Beyond the Lakes: Dr. Cornetta Mosley on Finding Freedom in Running

DFW Running Talk: Cornetta Mosley - Run It Up
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Chris Detzel: [00:00:00] Thank you everyone for tuning into another DFW Running Talk. I'm Chris Detzel and today's special guest is Dr. Cornetta Mosley. Netta, how are you?

Netta Mosley: Hello, Chris. I'm great. How about you?

Chris Detzel: I appreciate you coming on to the podcast today.

Netta Mosley: Absolutely. Thank you for having me. I'm super excited to talk about running today.

Chris Detzel: That's exactly what we're gonna do and you know it's funny is. I just interviewed Theo, he's one of the founders or the founder of Run It Up and stuff, and I was like, gimme more people to interview and talk to, and your name came up and so I appreciate you getting on so quickly. This is really exciting and so let's get into it.

Tell me a little bit about you and just. What you do, and then let's get into your journey of running.

Netta Mosley: Yeah, absolutely. Shout out to Theo for recommending me because I love talking about running. Theo founded Run It Up Dallas and I am the run captain for the run group. That is my after five life before, before nine, and after five life.

But between the runs and the run group activities, I am a professor. I work at the University of Texas at [00:01:00] Dallas, and I teach audiology, which is hearing science. Yeah, it's a doctoral program for people who want to help people with hearing loss and balance problems. I teach anywhere from the doctoral students to master's students in speech pathology and also undergrad students.

Chris Detzel: That's pretty amazing. Thank you. By the way, I didn't tell you this before the show but I was at lake Highlands High School this morning, and. That's I live right over there or really close, and I was running and I ran into Sterling and a guy named Malcolm. Yeah. And they were like. And I know, know Sterling through more of Instagram.

I guess he follows the show or whatever, it's the first time we met, he goes, yeah, I know you, you do the podcast and stuff. He goes, who you gonna interview? Who's coming up? I was like, I think it's corn or something. I didn't know who you were. And he goes. She lives here.

She runs, or she used to run Lake Highlands High School and stuff like that and so anyways, I thought I would bring that up. That's cool.

Netta Mosley: Yeah. Yeah. It's funny that you saw those two there because we all went to Lake Highlands at the same time. So Yeah. The three of us went to [00:02:00] Lake Highlands High School.

I've known Sterling since I was, oh my gosh, since I was little. We ran summer track together and so yeah, we, I've been a part of a running community for. Pretty much my whole life running has been it's taken a whole lot of different shapes and forms, but it's always been there. It's the most successful relationship I've had with anything or anyone.

Chris Detzel: I understand. I understand. Let's talk about that. So what, when did you start running? What'd you

Netta Mosley: run? Know what kind of

Chris Detzel: got you interested?

Netta Mosley: Yeah, so I started running when I was in third grade, I started running track. I ran summer track and I ran track for when I was in junior high as well as high school.

I did not run track in college. I went to LSU, so the stakes, the bar's really high for running track at lsu. And I was a decent athlete, but I wasn't, I wasn't competitive enough to get a scholarship or anything. I was a hurdler. I did relays long jump, triple jump.

Chris Detzel: Did you like in high school, did you do more sprints or was it [00:03:00] the long distance or what?

Netta Mosley: Yeah, I did sprints. I was a hurdler. Okay. So I did the a hundred meter hurdles. Yeah, I did relays. So I do the a hundred four, 400 meter relay. The four by one. I do the four by two sometimes, and if they needed someone for the four by four, I was able to do it. But that was not, I was not a 400 runner.

I also did long jump and triple jump, so it was more a technical runner.

Chris Detzel: All right. So you ran technical, that's pretty hard, to do the hurdles and stuff like that, and I'm sure Oh yeah, man I would fall every time. But did you start, so you went to college, you didn't run col in college.

Did you start thinking about long distance at all? What did that fall into?

Netta Mosley: Yeah. So I went to LSU for undergrad and when I was there I found my relationship with running morph. So I had been this like hurdler sprinter, and then I started looking at running as just a means of exercise without the racing, without the, conditioning and track work sprint drills.

And LSU has this series of lakes [00:04:00] around campus and you can do a loop around the lakes. And I just started running the lakes and I found it. So relaxing and I enjoy just having the time to, to zone out and just be, yeah. I always say that when I think about like how my brain works during running when I, throughout the day, my brain's like a computer.

I'm processing information, I'm spitting things out. I'm encoding and reorganizing and doing all these things, but when I run, my brain is a remote control. It's just. Pump your arms, lift your knees. Yeah. Push forward. It's just, and that, that time is really freeing for me. 'cause I always have been a busy person.

I've been in tons of organizations and if different played sports throughout my entire life. And I, I enjoyed having that. I enjoy having that time to just run, and I can't think about anything. So that started to develop when, around those lakes at LSU, sometimes I would run with friends, but.

I mainly random by myself.

Chris Detzel: What were you running? Was it [00:05:00] just a few miles here and there? What was the, you know what, yeah.

Netta Mosley: It started off very chill. I would do the lake, the lakes are about I think they're four to five miles around. And it started out just, running them maybe once a week.

And there was one summer that I lived on campus and I started running them almost every day. So would you get bored or something? Or what? I did not get bored. I enjoyed it and I would run them differently, but, and I didn't even, I didn't think about running the way that I do now that I'm like a run coach.

Yeah. I just thought about running as a way to escape and also to challenge myself and see what my body could do. So sometimes I would run them slowly. Sometimes I would do what I now know is a fart lick where, it's just unstructured. Unstructured speed work and I enjoyed just seeing how fast I could do it, seeing how my body felt in the process before and after, and ultimately just seeing how my body changed over the course of that summer.

So it was a so interesting, really cool experience.

Chris Detzel: Did you do any five Ks, 10 Ks or anything like that, during that time? Or what would that look like?

Netta Mosley: [00:06:00] Not a single race? Not a single race as an undergrad? No. Nope. Not a single race. I don't believe I did my first K, like a race until I moved up to Seattle, and my first 5K was the color run.

Have you heard of that? I

Chris Detzel: have. They had some of that in Dallas or, in the past. Long time ago. Yeah.

Netta Mosley: Yeah. That was my first.

Chris Detzel: Spray you with stuff. It's like some weird Yeah. Yeah, we, I did something like that a long time ago, so I don't, yeah.

Netta Mosley: Yeah. I, and I was probably, oh my gosh, I was a grad student.

I was probably 20. 5 24 when I ran my first, when I ran my first race. Offic like non track race, five major. So that was

Chris Detzel: just a year ago then, right?

Netta Mosley: Yeah, just like a couple months ago actually. But yeah, I was a grown adult when I started racing.

Chris Detzel: That's Now, do you love racing or what, what does that, you don't have to tell me what that looks like yet, but did you like that? What did, what does that look like for you?

Netta Mosley: It was fun. I did enjoy racing because it brought back a little bit of that track aspect to it, but it is, when [00:07:00] I raced back then it was, it felt a whole lot different than it does now that I actually trained, yeah. Back then it was just like, I wanna be able to complete the distance, and I get metal, but now I'm like, Ooh, I wonder if I can get top three, or.

Chris Detzel: Place

Netta Mosley: in my age, so it's the expectations are a little bit higher now, or the level at which I'm racing is higher than it was when I started, which was just for fun and for a challenge and also to just give myself something to look forward to.

Chris Detzel: So your long distance journey started in college. Four or five miles. That's not. A little amount. Especially if you're doing it four or five times a week, at some point, that's what, 25 miles a week or plus, whatever else you did. So how did that morph, what did that look like after college? You said you moved to Seattle or

Netta Mosley: yeah. I moved up to Seattle. I went to grad school at the University of Washington in Seattle. Okay. And a beautiful place, by the way. And Seattle is a very outdoorsy place.

So Seattle, when I would run the lakes at LSU, there would be a few people out there, but running an area like GreenLake in [00:08:00] Seattle, it was just on a beautiful day. It was packed. Yeah. I mean it's raining nine months out of the year, so the three months where cares nice people are outside. Yeah. The, there were more I'd say that when I moved to Seattle, I met more people who would run with me. It was not to the extent that it is now here in Dallas with the full on running community, but I did have people who would that, like my friends are the people who told me about different races.

I think I did a, the Color run and maybe like a St. Patty's Day dash and, okay. Christmas 10, I remember my 10. A month for my first 10 K and I was like, oh man, I can run 5K. I have to add half a mile to my long run every week. And yeah. Yeah,

Chris Detzel: I remember. So I'll give you a little story here just because it's fun, is so I was about 25 pounds overweight or something back in my mid thirties.

And my, I've got a twin brother and he's dude, you gotta do something, go run, please exercise. You gotta do it. We went through a divorce at the time and he was like, I was like, all so [00:09:00] I started jogging and my goal was at first, and I've told this story before, but was a mile a day for five days straight.

And I can allow myself to walk, run the first four days and then sat, or Friday I wanted to run the whole thing. Not hard, just jog it, whatever, and going through that. Anyways, I think I run a 5K or something eventually after four or five weeks. And then my brother, he's, he was in the Air Force and he was coming home for a little bit and he goes.

Literally like that. He goes, tomorrow I'm running a 10 K, you need to sign up. And I was thinking A 10 K, no way. I'm not even ready for that. And I ran it. I beat him. And so that was good. Wow. And then I realized that I could do more than I thought. I. And so that was good.

So it's cool that you got into that 10 K and so tell me more about that.

Netta Mosley: Yeah. Honestly it's not, it doesn't really stick out in my head as a super significant event. Looking back on it was 'cause it, it taught me that I could do more, but I never doubted that I could do a 10 KI just.

Needed to put in the work to do it. I'd say that [00:10:00] what that process did teach me was the discipline required to stick to a training plan, and ironically enough, I ran that race with a friend and she was, she had so much going on that day. We ended up being super late and missed the race. No, we missed the raise and we just get out there and run it.

Anyway, they had torn down the start and everything. There were, very last person was probably halfway through the route by the time we started and we still run it, still ran it. I don't think we got a medal, I don't think we're timed or anything. It was just like, you know what? We trained for this.

We're gonna do it. So that was a funny moment, but I knew at that point I didn't even care about. Not getting timed or the medal. Yeah, because I knew that, it was my time to run this race and I was ready for it. And I proved to myself that I could,

Chris Detzel: super dedicated. I'd have been like, eh, all right, maybe next time or something, so That's pretty cool. See, that is a good story. I like that. I went out and did it anyways, was late or whatever, and alright, you did that five, 10 k and [00:11:00] what was, did you start doing more or what was the. Thing from Seattle to Dallas.

Is that kind of how that worked or, I don't know.

Netta Mosley: You know what, at that point I was, I just ran to run like my, it's just, it's always been so intrinsic for me, distance running. It's just, it's my preferred mode of exercise. I'm not a big gym girl. I go to the gym 'cause I know I need to be strong to be a better runner, but I just like running.

That's good. And so I would run, there was Burke Gilman Trail that was a. Very popular trail in Seattle. I would run the Burke Gilman and I ran, one of the most significant runs was like a 10 miler and it had, I ran to this place called the, I can't remember the name of this hilly area, but I ran five miles to this hilly area, ran some hills and then ran back.

And that was, I felt so accomplished for doing 10 miles and I didn't train for it or anything. I just was lot. Yeah, I just was feeling good, especially tll.

Chris Detzel: Was it a pave trail or what was the trail like?

Netta Mosley: Yeah, it's a paved running trail. Okay. It wasn't like, forest trail. No. Did you [00:12:00] ever do a forced trail?

I dunno. I don't know. It's fun. I've thought about it. You've done it, you've done trail races before. A lot of trails. Yeah. Yeah. What do you think? How are your ankles

Chris Detzel: like? The ankles are fine. I think, the only thing you have to worry about really is. You have to worry more. I say worry.

You have to pay attention more. It's not it's not the groove running that you're used to, 5K, 10 k, a marathon, whatever you're running, you can just get in the zone With trail running. It's fun because it's a lot less forceful on your legs and knees, but it's also, you have to concentrate a lot more because, depending on the terrain, you don't wanna.

Trip over a rock or big stick or, so you're gonna watch that. But it's fun. It's just a different atmosphere. A lot. You're gonna be a lot slower and a lot more tired at the end in general, depending on the trail. If it's a paved trail, it's, it is what it is. But so yeah, I, I don't know.

I think you should think about doing like a. Do a small one, do a 5K or nobody says you have to go and do a half marathon or something right off. Yeah. Just, it's kinda like whenever you start running for the first [00:13:00] time, go run a 5K. Don't do you know something extravagant at first and then I think you like it.

It's different. I do hiking. I like hiking a lot, but I'm wearing like thick boots that support my ankles. I'm bow-legged, so my ankles are, I need some support, and that's what scares me. Yeah. And I'm not the most, I am accident. I tend to be accident prone, so I'm just, I'm a little nervous about trail running, but I have thought more about it now that I'm seeing, I'm just more exposed to trail races and they seem pretty, can I say badass?

Netta Mosley: They seem pretty, yeah,

Chris Detzel: you can say badass.

Netta Mosley: Yeah, I see pretty badass. So whatever you

Chris Detzel: want. Yeah. Cool. It's a different atmosphere, different vibe, and it's pretty cool. I would tell you to check out like Blaze Trails, they've got all these different trail races within somewhat of the DFW area. Finding a trail here is hard, but there's one in November.

I think they have a 5K, 15 k, I don't know, maybe they don't have a 5K, but. It's a 15 k and a 30 k and a, these trails get really long, like a hundred milers and things, but there's one [00:14:00] in Grapevine in November that they do that's really cool. So I might think about it this year. We'll see. Anyways, di digress.

Apologies. But trail running's fun. I bring that up every now and then to, to folks on the podcast, but so you get, you start running quite a bit. Get this 10 miler done. What went on after that?

Netta Mosley: Yeah, so after that, I just kept running. I feel like. To say

Chris Detzel: I just kept running.

Netta Mosley: I just kept running just became my thing. It was just my mode of exercise. Like I like to stay fit. I like the challenge of running. I like showing up and being bad at something one day and then working towards it and being good exactly another day. I love that I like the input output.

Of it. So growing up I came up in an environment that was unpredictable, good thing you could do good and bad things happen. You could do bad and good things happen, but with certain aspects of my life, like my profession and also with running, I felt if you. Do good.

You get good. If you do bad, [00:15:00] you get bad. And I love the security and the certainty with it. So I just kept running. I finished grad school and I moved back to the south. I lived in mobile, Alabama. Nobody runs there. Not a lot of runners. Nope. Not a lot of runners in mobile. Yes. What'd you do

Chris Detzel: in Mobile?

Netta Mosley: That was my first faculty position at the University of South Alabama. I just would, I lived downtown and I would just run all around the city and people would see me out there and just run this girl

Chris Detzel: running nobody does that here.

Netta Mosley: Nobody does that. Nobody does that in mobile. But as I said, it was just my thing.

It was my preferred mode of exercise. And I skipped a place. I lived in Biloxi, Mississippi for a bit, and I would run along beach. Wow. Yeah.

Chris Detzel: I would run all the beach. Would that be nice? The beach,

Netta Mosley: it was be, the water was I never to this day have touched that water with any part of my body.

But the beach is gorgeous. It has this beautiful white sand and it's, it was pretty windy, which was tough. But that was another, just another didn't get in the water. Obstacle water, no. Uhuh. Some people did. [00:16:00] Isn't it nasty there or

Chris Detzel: something, or,

Netta Mosley: yes. It looks, it was like it's like green. I don't know.

It, I, there's green water that's like algae, but it just, I think at some point it had a flesh eating amoeba in it, or some like fresh flesh eating bacteria. It just wasn't, it wasn't water that you get in but I'm also, I don't get in a lot of legs. I think that's just me. I like being in water.

Like when I went to Orange Beach at the pool, maybe. Yes, the pool, but also Gulf, not Gulfport orange Beach and Pensacola. I get in those beaches 'cause the water was clear, it was clean, but Biloxi it's right in the Gulf and it just is not, it's just nice water. The beach it's kind like

Chris Detzel: Galveston.

You can get in, it's. Got a lot of oil in it and a bunch of other shit, I don't know. Yeah.

Netta Mosley: I don't get in Galveston water. See, I I would run along the beach just like I did in Biloxi. Yeah. And enjoy the sand and the wind and the smell of water without getting in it. But yeah, I just ran, I just.

Ran as my form of exercise in mobile. I did a couple of [00:17:00] races, like a couple of five Ks, but even then not a ton. Oh no, I'm lying. When I lived in mobile, that's when I trained for my first half. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. I did you run a

Chris Detzel: half in mobile?

Netta Mosley: I ran it in New Orleans. Okay. It was a rock and roll.

Rock and roll. New Orleans Half. That was my first half marathon and it was so much fun. And again, that was my first time, like having a structured running plan. I think I found it. I found it somewhere online and I used a Nike running club app. Yeah. Meant coach. Have you ever used that before?

Chris Detzel: Long time ago.

Yeah.

Netta Mosley: Okay. Do you know Coach Bennett?

Chris Detzel: No, but I've heard about it. About him. Yeah. Yeah.

Netta Mosley: Coach Bennett he's one of the coaches who does like these guided runs on Nike, and I felt like he would just be in your ear telling you what to do and it's linked to your watch and so they would tell you when it slow down, speed

Chris Detzel: up.

No, I remember, so back in the day I had a, my phone had the Nike app. This is before Garmin was even, tells you how old I'm, but but that was kinda the first app I had. And I would wear headphones [00:18:00] and it would be like, it would go to Facebook or something like that. And if somebody liked it, they would go, yay.

Like on the mic. And I'm like, alright, somebody liked this, let's get some more likes or something. That's cool.

Netta Mosley: While you were running?

Chris Detzel: Yeah, while I was running. Because what it would do is. It would I guess go onto the Facebook or whatever, and say, Chris is now running whatever.

Somehow, I don't know, how does, and then somebody would like it or whatever, and then you get the yay in your ear because you have some music and everything, and so anyways, that's another digress. But it still was weird but that's whenever I used it back in the day, they didn't have coaches then, but then they try to add to it, I think.

Netta Mosley: Okay. Yeah, when I used it, they had the, I used the guided runs heavily and coach Bennett he's a rambler and so it worked out for long runs. Just listening to somebody ramble, it's, I listen to his podcast now as well. But yeah I trained for my first half. I did the Crescent City Classic, which, oh, I'm sorry.

I did the rock and roll half. I also did the [00:19:00] Crescent City Classic, which is a 10 k, but that was my first half and I was like, oh yeah, this was awesome. I'm never running here. So how did.

Chris Detzel: What was your time? How'd you do for the first one?

Netta Mosley: I did surprisingly well. My time was either a 2 0 1 or a 2 0 4.

Okay. It was pretty impressive for your first one. That's

Chris Detzel: really good.

Netta Mosley: And I was running by myself. I didn't have a running community Exactly. So I, it was just me and the elements, and it mobile's really hot and it got really cold in the winter, so yeah I was very satisfied. I was really happy about that.

And after finishing the rock and roll half there I ran. I actually ran that with a friend who lived in New Orleans and she had moved out. She's from New Orleans, but she lived in DC and she moved back to New Orleans and when I was after the race, we met up with some of her friends who ran with, I think they were with DRC, the District Running Collective.

And I just, that was my first time being exposed to a run group community and it felt just like track. I was like, man. That's really cool. I wish I [00:20:00] had that. Yeah. Yeah. And I started just looking at run groups on Instagram and I found out about a run group in Dallas when I first moved, I was a part of ZFT Run Club.

Yeah. And I, a lot of my friends were big one. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of my friends were a part of that run group. And as soon as I moved to Dallas, I moved to Dallas on Wednesday. That day I went to run group. I was like, no, I have to this, I gotta meet some people. And I've been a part of the run community ever since.

And Theo started running up, running it up. I saw that he had such a large following of people. There were so many people who were interested in running and wanted the community and wanted to be around other runners, but they didn't know much about running. Yeah. And so I was like, okay. You got the substance.

Let me create some structure to it. And when I started as a run captain, that was my job. I created, I, I became a certified running coach. I did my R-R-R-C-A adult Running Coach certification. I created all of our training plans. I created like a detailed training [00:21:00] guide that tells them about what the different types of runs are.

It has links to all the different training plans for different distances and different levels. I offer like training tips and workshops for our runners, and yeah, it's just it's been really a cool experience.

Chris Detzel: So let's dive into that in a middle. I wanna dive more into that because I think that's huge since you brought that up.

But let's go back a little bit because you mentioned that you ran that half marathon. Did you ever think about running a marathon in between that or, was it just, the, I'm just gonna do some half marathons, and what has that been like? Absolutely

Netta Mosley: not. I did that half marathon. Then I was like, why would I do that again?

What? No, that's not for me. This was enough. I was walking stiff. I was like, no, I'm, I would surprise myself if I do another half marathon. Like I checked this off of my box. I like running. I wanna keep liking running. And I didn't, I don't think I would like to run a

Chris Detzel: Marathon's hard.

I've done three of them, I was like, my last one was 10 years ago. From a marathon like racing and stuff like that. And I'm like, [00:22:00] it's just too much training for me and it's just I get mad all the time, and my wife was like, look, you don't have to run marathons.

Netta Mosley: Yeah I was like, deal,

Chris Detzel: I'm running half marathons,

Netta Mosley: that was where I was at the time, but since then it's changed. I'm running my third marathon this year in my first one. Okay.

Chris Detzel: Whoa. Let's, yeah, I know. I know. Alright all you ran your half marathon. We're gonna get to your marathons now and we'll talk about running up in a bit.

And you get to Dallas. What year was that when you got to Dallas? Do you remember? I

Netta Mosley: came here in 23.

Chris Detzel: Okay. So it's gonna help me keep things straight. And you decide you're running with ZFT and then you're like, oh, there's Theo. He's got this really cool thing going on. How can I be part of that?

And then you became part of that, and then you're creating some training plans for, I guess five Ks. 10 just in general. Maybe even halfs, I don't know, but just some training plans for people just to say, Hey, this is what I should run. Okay now, so you've run three marathons from 20 to now, or about to so let's [00:23:00] talk about that and what got you into that. At first you're like, ne never I'm gonna do that, but what kind of got you into that? I'm interested.

Netta Mosley: Alright. There, there was a little bit of gap in the timeline, so run it up, started in 2024, run it up. Just started last year. So at this time I was still running with with the other run or run group, DFT.

And we were, we, that was my first time being around so many runners, yeah. Who were peers and friends. Got it. And I started training for a half, like immediately, as soon as I came, I'm like, okay, yeah, I'll do it. I'll do the half with you guys. I'll start training. So I trained, I ran the half, and in the process of that training, I'm seeing so many of my friends who I'm training with and they're training for full, and I'm like.

But we run together. So could I mess him? We run together. If you're, if you can do it, that must mean I have a chance of doing it and I like running with you, so maybe it won't be so bad. The training process. And so I dipped my toe and I did my first full, I, I decided to do my first full marathon at a brunch after a run.

They were all talking about it and they're like, NEDA, you need to [00:24:00] do the full. You need to do the full. 'cause I was a strong runner. I'm like, no, I have no desire. I did the half and I couldn't imagine, saying, ah, halfway done it twice, just gotta go back. No, I wanna do that. But the more I saw them, them pushing and the fact that they'd done it before, I was like, all right.

I can do it. Okay I'll do one marathon just to check my box, just like I said about my first half, right? Like, all right, I'll do a marathon, I'll do BMW with you guys, in December. So I did it, I did BMW December, 2023 and I said, Uhuh, I'm never doing another marathon again. I am not ever doing that.

The training is so long. I did what? I did. Okay. I did not do as well as I wanted to. I ended with a four 20 something. Okay. So it was pretty, it wasn't super fast and I crashed at the end. I started cramping up, and yeah. So

Chris Detzel: let's talk about nutrition and hydration and all of that.

What did you know about that then? What did you know and what didn't you know? And what'd you learn? [00:25:00] Just curious. 'cause a lot of people, funny people will ask me Chris, I learned so much on this podcast when you talked about some nutrition or, because a lot of people do the same thing you did in the first freshman.

We all do that. Like oil crash or funk, whatever. What'd you learn, what'd you do? You know what I mean? Tell me a little bit about that. Yeah.

Netta Mosley: The pri the primary mistake with my initial marathon was my training. I wasn't running enough. I was running maybe four times a week and I was stacking my runs.

So on weekends I'd do a timed long run, like an hour and a half easy run, and then the next day do my long run, which would be, the, we peaked at 22 miles. And so now that I'm a run coach, I know that your training has to be far more balanced. If you're doing a 20, 22 mile long run throughout the week, you should be running at least 20, 22 miles.

That should not be more than 50% of your weekly mileage. Your long run shouldn't, and I just wasn't running enough. So when it came time to, to. Put that much effort, based on distance and the speed at which I was running it, it just wasn't, it forced me into a space that I had not pushed myself to [00:26:00] before in the training.

As far as nutrition I think I got that down pretty easily. I still use the same, the same strategy as far as fuel. I do gels for my longer runs. I may have a granola bar or something, but every three to four miles I'm taking something in. One thing that I have learned since then was the importance of salt tabs, either through pickle juice or just the salt stick or whatever.

Just getting more electrolytes in and not being afraid to fuel and drink, like people act like. If you feed your body while you're exerting all of this effort, then you're weak. I'm. No, they now, even some of my trainees, they act oh I don't need that. I can get through it. I'm like, yeah, but you are not gonna feel good.

If you give your body what it needs, it will feel so much better. Just do it. It doesn't make you

Chris Detzel: weak. It makes you stronger. Yeah a lot of us it is, that's an interesting point that you bring up. 'cause if you think about it as some of us grew up and if we're in football or track or whatever, coaches would say things like, you don't need water.

You just go do it. [00:27:00] You don't get water afterwards. Or, so it's that kind of mentality that I think. That some people have and now we know that this is not the right thing. You gotta fuel your body, you gotta have the salt, you gotta have the electrolytes, gotta have water, you gotta eat, those are just the important things.

And if you don't, you're not gonna have your best race in general. You're just not, most people Aren. Some people are maybe phenomenons and all of a sudden they do. But in gen you won't. You're just not. I like that you said that.

Netta Mosley: Yeah. Yeah. And and if you don't, if you don't fuel during your training, don't try to fuel during your race.

'cause you're gonna mess yourself up. And that that's the most important thing. You're gonna be holding down one of those porta potties, if you don't, and sometimes even if you do fuel properly, it's just, how life works. But they, that's

Chris Detzel: how races

Netta Mosley: work, I agree. Yeah, but fueling is I have learned, but I also learned which ones I can and can't do. I can't do caffeinated gels. So yeah I learned quite a bit over the course of my time, but the primary mistake I made during my first, during the training for my first marathon was just [00:28:00] not running enough.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. I think the miles are key. I've talked to a lot of people on this podcast that are running really fast marathons, two forties, two thirties, whatever. And they're at another level, right? They're, they run a lot of miles. A lot of those folks run 80, 90 to a hundred miles a week.

Right? And to be able and to there is something behind the miles. So doing enough miles to get to your, I'm not telling people to do a hundred miles a week that I don't, I think that's ridiculous. But for them, there's some science behind that, right? 30 or 40 miles a week is, go ahead.

What

Netta Mosley: do those people do?

Chris Detzel: Yeah.

Netta Mosley: Life for their professions. Do they, how can you run that much in work?

Chris Detzel: They work, and some of 'em have kids and everything else, but a lot of 'em are doing two aday, right? And so they get up early in the morning, they do that, and then, they'll tend to whatever they've got to throughout the day, work.

Some of 'em work from home, and then they'll go out night and do another run, right? I wouldn't say that group is called the Sloths. A lot of those folks, not every one of 'em, but [00:29:00] that group is, intense on their running. You've got some way over here and then you got some way over here.

And to me it's a balance. I'm 50 years old. I'm not gonna be running. I'm running 35 to 40 miles a week. That's really my limit. That's what my body wants. And I can run a fast half marathon really fast, but I don't care about marathons. If I do a marathon, I'll probably hit 50 to 60 miles a week with some speed and hills and whatever, and that kind of stuff.

And but you're right. I think there's something said for the more miles, you can build that up, you gotta have that base for a marathon. You have to. You have to.

Netta Mosley: For sure. So For sure. Yeah. So it's good. And people don't wanna run easy. Yeah. People don't wanna run easy.

I think that was and that, that should be, that's what builds your base is easy running. But people wanna do the, they wanna have the sexy splits and the intense, fart like runs and all these things. Tempo, nice tempo runs. But really it's, the foundation is gonna be just those easy miles.

Time on feet. That's right.

Chris Detzel: Time on feet. I think that's the 1 0 1 stuff, but a lot of people dunno that. And so that's good that you're there to teach 'em. I think that's great. And you [00:30:00] run your first marathon and you kind of bonk and didn't wanna do it again. So what next? What happened?

Netta Mosley: Yeah. I, when I became a running coach, I learned more about what training should look like and how to run efficiently. I'm a scientist, so learning more about the science behind it really did make me look at marathon training in a different way. I knew that I could do it without. Breaking down, I knew that I could do it without, I could do it safely and enjoy the process at some point.

And yeah, I just, at some point, that's right. So I, I started I started training again for my, my, my most recent. You know what? Last year I trained for a half, but I ended up getting injured. That was my first injury, and I thought I was, I thought I was invincible. I was like, all these people get injured.

I don't get injured. I do yoga every day, I'm fine. But I ended up with a knee injury and took me outta my race for last November, and so that was the, that was an experience in itself. I, it definitely taught me a lot about the psychology. Behind injury and not [00:31:00] being able to run.

Yeah, especially with me, I'm like the run captain of this huge run group and I'm training these people and they're training for their full and their half. So I'm there every day leading them, but I can't join them on the journey. I can't run with them. So that was really, I'll be blunt about it, because it was of just.

It was such a big part of my life and yeah, I just couldn't, I just couldn't engage. We've all gone through

Chris Detzel: it, by the way. We've all gone through it. Yeah. What was, didn't been doing it long enough I think for me. So I was running, this is two years ago for me, and so I was running really fast on some of the halves.

I went to this downhill half and ran like a 1 28. So I was really excited. I got a coach to help me to get to. My goal is 1 25 at some point. And, I wanted, my goal was to hit one under one 30 before I hit 50, but I did that. And then and then I ran Houston, but I was I think it was Houston Chevron.

And then my Achilles started. I think I ran a 1 31 there, but my Achilles started hurting really bad. And for the next six. Five or six months. What I found out was mostly the shoes. So I was wearing those plated [00:32:00] shoes, and the car, carbon plated shoes and I love them, but my Achilles didn't love 'em, so I stopped wearing those, did that kind of exercises, I kind stopped running, got out of the community a little bit and, I think that injury is, it's just something that's gonna happen and you gotta try to figure out how to, that wasn't my first injury, by the way. I was going places, I was doing really good things, and and then, I get injured and so literally for six months and probably longer it hurt, but started getting better 'cause I was stopped wearing those shoes.

And slowly but surely, just got better. But it took a long time, a really long time, yeah. And I think that you just have to. But you gotta think of other things. You start thinking maybe I can work out or cycle or, there's other things you can do, but it's hard as a runner.

'cause that's all I do, I don't really, yeah,

Netta Mosley: too much else. Yeah, you preach into the choir for sure.

Chris Detzel: We all have gone through it though, and I think that, that's part of the journey, and it hopefully makes you a better runner. At the very least. It helps you to become, understanding of others.

Andrea is real. [00:33:00] Absolutely.

Netta Mosley: And understanding of yourself, just because I felt like I, I felt like I was doing enough because I was doing yoga every day. That, my body needed more and I wasn't listening to it. I thought I was, because I didn't, I wasn't always in that much pain.

But I wasn't doing enough at the level that I started running. I needed more, I needed cupping and foam rolling at least. Foam rolling. Now I foam roll pretty much every day, so foam rolling and very targeted mobility work. And I just needed more than I was giving myself.

And it sat me down and made me reflect. But the beginning of this year is when I did my second full. I did rock and roll again, Nashville. Okay.

Chris Detzel: Wow.

Netta Mosley: That one was, have you heard about that one?

Chris Detzel: Yeah, I've heard of it. I've not done it, but yeah, it was a

Netta Mosley: dog of a race. It's a dog of a race. It was, yeah. It was tough.

I still, I wanted to get at least a sub four. I have, I did not hit sub four. I was at like a 4 0 4. But man, when I tell you that race was poorly advertised and super young, I knew it had some, I knew it had some [00:34:00] elevation to it, but when I looked at the elevation map, it was mainly in the beginning there were some rolling hills throughout, but what I didn't know at the very end, I think it was miles 20.

It was miles 20 through 20. Four-ish. And like the most egregious, aggressive hills you will ever see. And you're already dead. That's when the race starts. Yeah. Like you're already dead by then or near death. And then you have these hills that just snatch the rest of your soul away.

It was to the point like, I'm running up a hill and it has a switch back. So you switch back and the hill is like more, it's more hill and more steep. In there and there were like three or four of those back to back. And I was done. There were, it was like warfare. There were people like just running to the side and like laying down on the ground, just like falling out in the middle of the course.

It was so bad. It was so bad. But I still, I still finished and in that race I did start again, started cramping up 'cause I, I didn't take enough electrolytes 'cause it was warm. It was warmer than I would, than I expected. And just [00:35:00] with the hill, the terrain was just really rough.

So I made it through, and that was the first time that I've ever had like the noodle legs at the end of a race. So I stop and my legs just start to quake, and the lady, the, a couple of women come and try to like, get me a wheelchair. I'm like no, I don't. I don't need a wheelchair. I just kept standing.

I, I just need crutches. I just need a, get me a cart or something, but I ended up walking off. I didn't collapse. I didn't fall. I kept my legs under me. And yeah, I was very proud to have finished that. I didn't, again, didn't perform to the extent. Perform the way that I wanted to, and I was surprised by the hills, but that race taught me the importance of just mental agility and adjusting.

But netta

Chris Detzel: let's be realistic and fun. We, as runners are hard on ourselves by too much. Two is you prd by like almost 20 minutes Yeah. On a pretty tough course and hot day. Yes. Yes. Just 'cause you didn't hit your, what you think you should have hit an a goal of under four hours, which is, I understand, but there are [00:36:00] other race.

It's only your second race. It's only your second marathon for, and so for sure, to me there's a lot of progress right there. And, all the things that you just told me, and you should be proud. Not, you probably are, I would be very proud of that and I'm amazed like you did almost 20 minutes better than you did the first time.

That's huge progress,

Netta Mosley: of course. And I'm not discounting the fact that I got better, I trained better, and I was prepared really well. I really did put my all into that training block. What the race taught me though was when it comes to. My mental state, I was, I felt so confident at the beginning and when the times got hard, my confidence just plummeted.

Yeah. And oh my gosh, the four four hour pacer ran by me on one of those hills and I like put my last into it. I'm like, no, I have to catch up with Emma. By then, it was all gone and it just taught me the importance of what it taught me was that even if you. Or even if you feel like you have nothing left, as long as you're moving forward, you're moving in the right direction.

So even though it [00:37:00] hurt, even though I was cramping up, even though I had all these thoughts in my head about how I wanted to get sub four and seeing the sub four or the four hour pacer pass me up, I knew that I just, I had it in me to keep going and my experience with being injured the following year, I was like, okay, all these people are watching me.

My team is tracking me on this run train. They've trained with me, they've rooted for me. Like I owe it to them to, to just. Keep pushing. I owe it to myself after all the time that I put into this to keep pushing even when it's ugly, even when it's, it's disappointing, still have it in you to keep going and that, that's what ultimately got me through.

Chris Detzel: Yeah, I think you have to do that and I think that's a great lesson learned, and great lesson learned about yourself. You learn that. You could probably do a little bit more than you thought, and you can get past that no matter how hard it is. I could go run a five miler and it's a race and that last mile every single time.

I don't know. I just wanna quit. This sucks. Yes. Certainly a marathon and Yeah. Oh, go ahead. Even certainly a marathon, right? You really gotta push through it, and there's a lot, so that's a really awesome [00:38:00] lesson.

Netta Mosley: Yeah. Every time I run a 10 KI see the turnaround for the 5K folks.

I was like, that could be me right now. I could be.

Chris Detzel: Same. I think that too, what's next for you from a marathon? You said you got another one planned. What does that look like?

Netta Mosley: Yes. I just got a bib before the New York City Marathon, so really it'll be my first world major. So I'll be going there in November and Nice.

Yeah, that was a really cool, I'm super excited about that. I'm great. I'm grateful to have gotten in Strava, pulled some strings from me and was able to get a bib for me. You have a up. Runup has a partnership with Strava and yeah, it was just, yeah, I'm super excited. It's my first world major.

I'm not gonna lie. I, when it comes to World Majors, I have an idea in my head that they're like, eh, it's a marathon. It's a race. It's a little bit overrated. I don't know. I don't know if they're overrated because I haven't experienced one yet, but I feel but you're

Chris Detzel: gonna have a lot of fun.

Lot of fun. Yeah, there's a

Netta Mosley: lot of hype behind them, a lot of hype behind them, so I'm excited to try. Have you done any of the majors yet?

Chris Detzel: No, I don't do marathons, but my wife has [00:39:00] done most all of them except for Tokyo. And so I get to go to, you said you've

Netta Mosley: done three,

Chris Detzel: three marathons, not majors.

Netta Mosley: Okay. Yeah.

I thought you said I don't do you just said I don't do marathons.

Chris Detzel: Not anymore, no.

Netta Mosley: Okay. Okay.

Chris Detzel: 10 years ago was my last marathon official. Okay. Got it. I've run a lot of distances. I've done 25 milers twenties. We, I've done 120 miles in, in Colorado, up some mountains in six days, things like that, but I've done 50 Ks, so I've I've done stuff, but I don't really like to race marathons.

It's just, I like to race the halfs and shorter distances and sometimes a little bit for me, it's. I don't know. I just don't like running that long, that fast, Yeah. Too much pressure for me, it's I could do it, but I just don't want to. Yeah. But yeah, my wife's done, she's done a 13th Boston Marathon this April.

Wow. And then she's done New York once or twice. She's done Chicago two or three times. She's done Berlin, she's done London. She in Tokyo. I don't know what she wants to do, we'll see. But so I get to go to 'em, take videos and pictures and stuff, but. [00:40:00] I'll have to give you the five Ks and stuff.

All right. You're gonna do New York? You're ready? Or you will be ready. It's coming up, so that's exciting. Yeah, trust me, you love it. You going with anybody? Friends or anything? Anybody coming with you?

Netta Mosley: Yeah, there are a few people from Run It Up who are coming along and one of my friends lives in New York.

She's not running it, but she'll be there to cheer me on and I'll be staying with her. So I'm looking forward to that.

Chris Detzel: You're gonna have a blast. So let's talk a little bit about Run it up since I told you'd come back to that. So let's do that. So right now you're the trainer, or I guess you. Put training plans together and tell me more about that.

Netta Mosley: Yeah, so my official title is a run captain and training director. I develop the training plans for all distances. I have that advanced and beginner, advanced and intermediate training plans for almost every distance. I gather the people and teach them how to run, how to I explain things related to running.

For instance, in the training guide, I. Describe all the different types of runs that are included in the training plan and offer resources for like mobility, workouts, or different single leg workouts for [00:41:00] runners. So just really given being a source of information, which, I'm a professor, so that comes naturally to me.

Good teacher. Yeah. Yeah. So basically teaching people things, but also what's different about my, and that, that's very natural to me. What's different about my role in run it up and what was a challenge that now is like a superpower for me is engaging and motivating people. So I run by myself for so long, I never really needed that aspect.

Like running has been so intrinsic for me, but what I realized is that people need motivation. And people who are new to running, it can be, it can feel defeating. A lot of times it's hard and yeah. Yeah, I, one thing that I do is I take the time to explain things at a level that, that they understand.

For new runners, I create training plans with their needs and their abilities and mind, so people who like. Couch to 5K or, the, that group I developed training plans and also training programs for beginner runners [00:42:00] and even some more advanced runners. Not the super, super fast people.

They, they, a lot of them have their own coaches anyway, but I, the training plans that I have are applicable to them. They can modify them, add to 'em or whatever, but it's a solid base for even advanced runners. So the, yeah the motivation and the engagement aspect is something that I have been able to tackle through, run it up just the psychological, the psych psychological side of running outside of the physical.

Chris Detzel: I like that because what you're telling me is what I already know, but what I always preach is. The power of community one, but you need leaders like yourself and Theo and all the other folks that are, doing stuff with running up, to help those people along that, might need it.

And I think it's the power of definitely. Leadership. Leadership, but the community in itself is really what helps to engage those people because you can go find a plan on your own anywhere, but you can't find a plan that people are gonna be there for you every step of the way to guide you, help you run with you sometimes, and call you out when you need to be called out and

Netta Mosley: [00:43:00] things like that.

Come on.

Chris Detzel: Audience.

Netta Mosley: 20 and 20 other people doing the same thing at the same time as you. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Nothing like that. And I think that

Chris Detzel: community is key at the end of the day. And what run to me, what running Up has created is phenomenal. And I tell Theo this is a lot of times running is big in Dallas Fort Worth period, there's a lot of running groups.

There's literally like 50 or 60 groups in Dallas Fort Worth area. Most of those running groups for a long time, have been like, I'm just gonna say it like white communities, white running communities. And you, I'm not saying you wouldn't have people of color that come, but a lot of times there are two or three people and you just didn't see a large group of African Americans running, so what you guys have created is awesome. I was like, okay, this is, and I love what you're doing. And so I think it's just pretty cool. And you guys have fun partying and from what I could tell I gotta come, I gotta come to one of your. I told him I would.

And like he goes, yeah, on Tuesday, Wednesday or whatever the days it is, we run two or three miles and that's it then. [00:44:00] But this is all this music, people partying, doing fun things, and I'm like, dude, like this is why they have, 80,000 people on their, Instagram and all these people showing up to their runs because it's fun.

Yeah. That's a

Netta Mosley: great community. And the the shirtless photos of Ben.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. I told Theo, I go, all these sexy people are like, people with their shirts off these, very beautiful people in general, and I'm almost like, that's what attracts people.

And I did tell 'em, I go, some people see that as oh, people are just thinking, oh, as a, so what, even if they are like, they're being healthy about it, the running, lifting weight, there are all kinds of stuff.

Netta Mosley: There was

Chris Detzel: part, I don't know.

Netta Mosley: It, I feel like the aura around run it up is like the most perfect bait and switch.

Oh, come, you're gonna see these beautiful people. And then you come and we're running, like we're absolutely running and you keep coming and you keep running. And the next thing you know, oh, I'm gonna do a 5K. Oh, I'm gonna do a 10 K, I'm gonna do the half. Oh, I'm gonna do a full they fall into the trap and it's.

It's, they develop a love [00:45:00] for the sport outside of the glitz and glam or the, the Instagram stuff. So we kind of reel people in with the Instagram love it. And we get them into running and it is really radical what we're doing. 'cause you don't see, you don't see a lot of black and brown people moving their bodies, especially not running.

You may see more of 'em in the gym, but, even at races, you go to races and you don't see a lot of us we're not on the, definitely not on the podium. And that's what I'm looking for moving forward, is to take our training to the next level, to be, have a bigger presence on podiums and bigger events because we have the ability, we have talent in run it up.

We have some amazing runners. And again, they just, they need the, they need develop, running is a new sport, right? They need the guidance, they need the structure, they need the training, and they need to know that they can, and I feel like from my story with ZFT and the whole experience was you need to see it, it hits different when you see people who look like you doing it.

And that's what we, that's what we bring is [00:46:00] yeah, we run together. I'm doing a marathon. Why aren't so that's the beauty of community and run. It's, yes, we do build teammates, we build people that we run with that push us, but we also build friendships. So many friendships and relationships have grown from run it up.

And I think it's one of the, one of the biggest reasons for that is because you have these people who are coming together for a common cause that is good for them. You're trying to improve yourself. I'm trying to improve myself, and we have this shared experience that's very meaningful and productive for us.

Both. I think a lot of professionals, especially our age like millennials, we are focused on, we're focused on, getting our lives in order. We don't have a whole lot of time for frivolous activities, so this is a way to socialize and do something good for yourself. Do something productive. Yeah.

Healthy. Yeah. And that really resonates with people and it's better than going. Out or smoking hookah or, not that there's anything wrong with doing that, but you can do this too, and it's another [00:47:00] avenue for people who aren't into that.

Chris Detzel: Man, that was good. Thank you. I love that. I can't say that any better.

Because I completely agree with you and what you guys are doing is amazing to me. I've gotta come out, I think I'm gonna try to come out in the next week or two just to hang out, maybe run a couple miles with you guys just to fun. But is there anything that I missed that you know I should have that I didn't cover that you wish I would've covered?

Netta Mosley: There's one thing that I'd like to touch on, and it has to do with, with Run it Up one one. One of the things that I appreciate most about this experience about being run Captain for run it up and just involved with the leadership team is the creativity that we have to morph and create new things.

So like for instance, with Run It Up, we have the Run group, but also the Run It Up Foundation. And with that we're building different health clinics, we're doing cardiovascular screenings, we're doing health literacy, financial literacy programs, mental health. Events, different ways to support the black community here.

Really targeting some things that are really plaguing [00:48:00] our communities or some things that are really hard to overcome. And we're using our motion, as an organization. To make a difference in those arenas. So one of the programs that, that I spearheaded was called Get Off the Couch. It was like a couch to 5K program.

And we do we had them complete a survey at several point, like every week. It was a six week program and they had to complete the same survey and we saw significant re significant reductions in weight there. The. The weight and also the amount of time that they were working out and the distance that they were able to run.

But what was most resounding to me were the changes in how they viewed themselves. This group was primarily women and at first they were like, I don't like who I see when I look in the mirror. I want to feel confident in my body. I want to, feel like I can accomplish things. I want to feel more confident.

And by the end, we asked one question that, that asked how confident do you feel in your ability to complete the workouts this week? They would be around, one or two at the beginning, up to eight and nine towards the end, the end [00:49:00] results were I did not think that I could accomplish this, and you guys showed me something new about myself.

I'm a new person because of this. It's like literally life changing, and so I love that we're able to use our platform to touch real people and to make real change on individual and group levels. So yeah it's truly a blessing. It's a blessing to be a part of the organization and to be a hand that's shaping it.

Chris Detzel: Annetta, you guys are taking, running to a different level and. New heights, just with health and people feeling better about themselves and I think in general running does that for a lot of people, but by calling that out, saying it and making an effort to push that, to show that now that data is truly amazing and.

This has been really good. So Netta, this has been really good. Thank you so much for coming on. Thank you everyone for tuning in to another DFW Running Talk. I'm Chris Detzel. Don't forget to rate and review us and make sure to go to dfw running talk dot sub stack.com to get our newsletter and sign up there, [00:50:00] Netta.

Thanks again for coming.

Netta Mosley: Thank you for having me, Chris. You're welcome.