Starter Girlz Podcast

From Hot Dog Contest to Marathons: How a Dad Transformed His Life One Run at a Time

• Jennifer Loehding • Season 7 • Episode 82

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Can a hot dog-eating contest change your life?

It sounds funny—but for Andrew Smith, a busy dad of four, it became the unexpected wake-up call that led to a powerful transformation. What began as a silly challenge turned into a commitment to take back control of his health, mindset, and life.

In this inspiring episode of the Starter Girlz Podcast, Andrew shares how he went from feeling stuck and exhausted to running marathons, chasing personal records, and discovering purpose through small, consistent steps.

If you've ever felt behind, overwhelmed, or unsure where to begin, Andrew’s story will show you that it’s never too late to change.

In this episode, you'll learn:

  • How a moment of discomfort became the catalyst for change
  • What helped Andrew cut nearly an hour off his marathon time
  • How he balances fitness, mindset, and parenting
  • Why mindset matters more than motivation
  • Tips for building consistency when you're tired, busy, or just starting out

Whether you're a beginner runner, a busy parent, or someone seeking a fresh start, this conversation will leave you inspired to take your first step.

Connect with Andrew Smith:
Instagram: @AndrewMossSmith
Email: andrewmosssmith@gmail.com

Andrew Smith:

And I also had my third child and he was born and, yes, the dad bod, the father figure, was forming in ways that it never had been before and I was seeing numbers on the scale I had never seen before and it was just like, okay, let's, let's reverse this. So what I did was I just started running three times a week.

Jennifer Loehding:

Welcome to the Starter Girlz podcast, your ultimate source of inspiration and empowerment. We're here to help women succeed in every area of their lives career, money, relationships, and health and well-being while celebrating the remarkable journeys of individuals from all walks of life who've achieved amazing things. Whether you're looking to supercharge your career, build financial independence, nurture meaningful relationships or enhance your overall well-being, the Starter Girlz podcast is here to guide you. Join us as we explore the journeys of those who dare to dream big and achieve greatness. I'm your host, Jennifer Loehding, and welcome to this episode and welcome to this episode. Welcome to another episode of the Starter Girlz podcast. I am your host, Jennifer Loading, and wherever you are tuning in today, we are so glad to have you, so I'm going to open this up today.

Jennifer Loehding:

I'm so excited about my guest today. I think one of the things I love about Starter Girls is that we get to talk to so many incredible people doing amazing things out there, and I feel like this guest is just another amazing example of tenacity and grit and, I want to say, transformation. So let me open up with this what if the moment that changes your life doesn't start with a grand plan, but with a plate of hot dogs and a number on the scale you never expected to see. Oftentimes, transformation doesn't begin in clarity but in discomfort. And when purpose meets persistence, this is what you get, and so my guest today is an example of this. I'm so excited to chat with him. I think this could be so much fun, and it's gonna be so different than what we normally do. It's been a while since we've talked to an athlete, and so I think this is going to be kind of fun to shake things up a little bit. But before I bring him on, I do need to do a quick shout out to our sponsor.

Jennifer Loehding:

This episode is brought to you by Walt Mills Productions. Need to add excitement to your YouTube videos or some expert hands for editing? Look no further. Walt Mills is the solution you've been searching for. Walt is not only your go-to guy for spicing up content. He's the force behind a thriving film production company with numerous titles in the pipeline. Always on the lookout for raw talent, Walt is eager to collaborate on film and internet productions. With a background deeply rooted in entertainment and promotion, Walt Mills leverages years of skills to give you the spotlight you deserve. Want to learn more about Walt and his work? Head on over to waltmillsproductionsnet and let your content shine, All right.

Jennifer Loehding:

And with that I want to make one more mention to head on over to startergirlz. com. And why do you want to go over there? Three reasons One if you've missed an episode, it's a great place to catch up on one. You can also sign up for our community newsletter and then that way you'll be in the know when everything goes out and you'll never miss an episode. And then, lastly, if you are an aspiring entrepreneur or creator, or maybe you're already an entrepreneur that's doing amazing, but you just want to know what that number one subconscious block is that may be hindering your success, Well, we've got a two-minute quiz over there that you can take. It's kind of fun and it'll tell you what your number one block is. And so head on over to startergirlscom and do whatever you need to do there.

Jennifer Loehding:

All right, and with that we are going to welcome our guest on today. So my guest today, Andrew Smith, is living proof that meaningful change can start in the most unexpected places. What began with a single run sparked by a desire to reclaim his health and energy has grown into a powerful journey of endurance, mindset and commitment Now a father of four running marathons, Andrew has built his momentum around a plan people, passion, pain and persistence. His story is a reminder that the path to purpose often starts with one brave decision, All right. So, Andrew, welcome to the show. We are so glad to have you here today.

Andrew Smith:

Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm very grateful.

Jennifer Loehding:

It's going to be fun. So I'm a runner, not like you, obviously. I used to run a lot more and it's so funny because I'm now trying, I'm starting to feel better again and so I'm kind of running a little bit again. But man, I tell you what this age thing and running, oh my gosh, it just hurts, it just hurts, and so I have to like really push myself to get out there. So I always admire my runner friends and you and I've been on the side, probably, that your wife has been on with young children watching him do these things, and so I'm really excited to chat with you because I think you're you're where we used to be and you're kind of budding and doing all these cool things and you got this young family that's kind of behind you, and so I think this can be so much fun yeah, great, no, great, no.

Andrew Smith:

thank you for having me. I'm looking forward to the conversation.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah. So let's talk about the story, because this story cracks me up and you told me about this and I thought this is so funny because you hear things like this, right, like where somebody had something, and they wake up and they're like, oh my gosh, this just sucks. And I shared with you that my husband had the whole dad bod thing going, like he started running. I think he was like 29 and or maybe it's a little, maybe a little bit earlier than that, but we had our youngest or she's our oldest now, but she was a baby at the time and he's like I don't want this dad bod, and so that's kind of what triggered him to start running. So let's talk about your story. What brought you to this moment right now?

Andrew Smith:

Yeah. So when you cut to the chase of how did you start picking up running and marathoning, it all goes back to a hot dog eating contest. This was July 4th, 2023. And I signed up for our neighborhood pools hot dog eating contest and it was as simple as that. And it was as simple as that. I signed up for eating a few hot dogs. There were four of us in the competition. I had done some research on Joey Chestnut. That day he had eaten like 77 hot dogs three and a half minutes and that won me a month of free ice cream. And so one bad choice led to a really bigger bad choice and I had a lot of ice cream that next month. And I also had my third child. And I also had my third child and he was born.

Andrew Smith:

And, yes, the dad bod, the father figure, was forming in ways that it never had been before. And I was job transition, the pandemic. I was in travel, and then I was like all right, I got to cut expenses, I'm finding a new job, I got into real estate, but running was free, or so I thought, and so started getting into running a little bit during COVID, but hadn't run much. And then this period of October November 2023, I was running three times a week. Then it so happened that someone on Facebook his name is Rick Smith, he was a former pastor at Watermark in Dallas, a church and he left to go start a nonprofit called Hope Story professionals with resources to give an expecting family a diagnosis of Down syndrome. If that's their case, instead of it being a sad story I'm sorry, which was their situation they want it to be a congratulation, congratulations. Here's hope, here's resources, here's support. And so what he has done was created this nonprofit called Hope Story, and they raise a lot of their money through races, through New York City Marathon and through the Disney Marathons. So you raise money for Hope Story and they give you access to these races.

Andrew Smith:

Well, I didn't know any of that, but I learned it because on Facebook he said anybody want to run the Dallas half with me this weekend? And so, on three days notice, I signed up for my first race, had never run any races and it was the Dallas half marathon, december 2023. I learned about all that traveling on the dark train downtown. So I learned about that, I learned about his organization, how he does that, and then we just go and run half a half marathon and it went poorly, to say the least.

Andrew Smith:

I didn't know what I was doing, had no formal training. I had brought some biscuits, two grand layers biscuits. I was like, oh, maybe I'll need that before the race. I was like, oh, maybe I'll need that before the race. Well, I didn't eat them and I didn't get rid of them, they were just in my pocket. So the entire time, if you look back at race photos, I have two bulging biscuits in my pocket. While I'm running this half marathon, I was given a. First of all. We ran out way too fast, and then we took a donut from a bystander and had that. And then he gave me my first goo, which I didn't know what a goo was, but energy gel thing, I think it was birthday cake flavored and all of that was, was not settling well.

Andrew Smith:

Yeah, so here I am halfway through the half marathon and I start to slow down a lot. And over the next three, four miles, rick, he, he shoots off, he does a PR, he finishes in like an hour 51. Um, I was going quickly until I wasn't and I started to see stars. I started feeling faint. I was a mess, with Gatorade spilled all over me and I just I didn't know what was going on. I did not feel good until about mile 10. I really felt like I was about to faint.

Andrew Smith:

I was feeling extremely not good, so I slowed down so much that eventually I heard the two hour pace guy come up from behind me. I was way ahead of him and that was kind of my goal, but I didn't really know where I was. But that guy was the guy I wanted to beat. And so for the last three miles all I did was just try and put one foot in front of the other and hold on and I felt like every step I could just fall over. But I didn't. I beat him by 15 seconds or so and got to the finish line and Rick was there to congratulate me and I put my arm around him feeling a mess and we grabbed the chocolate, milk and the tacos and the finisher medal and the T-shirt and we're walking to go recover. And I was like oh, oh, no, I forgot my medal where are? And so I turn around he's like, dude, it's on your neck. And so, again, I was just totally out of it and, uh, that was my first running, running a race marathon experience yeah.

Jennifer Loehding:

So so much to this, andrew. So much to this. It's funny. I'm laughing and you know you probably saw me smile on some of this because I can relate to some of those things. I'm sure other runners can as well, but I don't know if I shared with you.

Jennifer Loehding:

So I had signed up for this DRC race in four weeks and had never really, I think, I'd ran a few 5Ks. And just to kind of preface this, years ago I was teaching aerobics and I would go out and I would just run a 5k and wouldn't have trained, like I would just go run one and of course my legs would be sore the next day and I'd be like why did I do that? Like it was so stupid. So here I go and I sign up for this, this DRC race, and I'm like I'm going to run this thing and I think my husband probably ran the marathon at that time and so, anyways, I remember this is kind of how I had moved into doing keto, because when you were talking about like the biscuits and the donut and the goo and all that stuff, like I would take that stuff and then, like in the middle of the race, I would get like migraines, like I would get headaches, I would bonk, like you know, like where they say you bonk, you hit the wall. I would just get terrible.

Jennifer Loehding:

And so that's what, when you talk about, like transformation, doing several of those and having several of those races, and it ended up being I got into trail racing and doing other things where it required, you know, a little bit more strenuous work and I eventually just got so tired of like the sugar crashing and that it ended up forcing me to have to change the way I was eating, which ended up working out for me.

Jennifer Loehding:

So I get it when I listen to you talk about this stuff, some of these things that we go through as runners, you know, like the hitting the wall and the sugar and you know. And then the wanting to beat somebody, the pacers that are behind you because you don't want to let them pass you right, and trying to get in your age group, and you've got some incredible things and I want to talk about that. But I want to ask you a question about those hot dogs, because we talked about this, about you pouring the water on the hot dogs, like this part of the story you left out. You need to tell this real quick because I think this is so funny.

Andrew Smith:

You mentioned studying your opponents, but tell us about that part. Yeah. So I watched the Nathan's hot dog eating competition again, like I said, and Joey Chestnut dominant in his sport. Well, whenever I looked up the ESPN, they showed the rules for the competition and what it said was you cannot dip your hot dog buns in the water for more than three seconds. So I thought, oh, that's a strategic advantage. You know my little small hot dog thing. They're not going to have rules.

Andrew Smith:

So the thing was, our little hot dog competition didn't have big cups like theirs did, so we had literal water models, tiny little spouts. So the thing was, our little hot dog competition didn't have big cups like theirs did, so we had literal water bottles, tiny little spouts. So I couldn't dip anything in my water bottle. So, yeah, the first move I had I made sure both water bottles I had were unscrewed and first move ready, set, go was just dump out all the water on the hot dogs, make them as soggy and wet as possible so that, yeah, I could try and stuff them in my mouth a little better. But man, there's still quite a a ball of dough type of disgusting in your mouth when you're trying to down two hot dogs at once, yeah, but it worked out for me.

Andrew Smith:

I got those first two down in less than a minute and my competition as soon as they saw me dump it, they were like whoa that. I think I'm gonna catch up on my dog and just watch this guy do what he's doing that's kind of how it went now, I didn't really have any competition after I made that move that's so great, it's clever, that you were thinking that way.

Jennifer Loehding:

You know, I can only imagine you get those hot dogs, do you? So now let me ask you this will you eat a hot dog now, like are you cool eating hot dogs now? Are you kind of like?

Andrew Smith:

I like. Okay, I even ate like a pound of brisket after that. You know, I wasn't even full apparently so yeah I don't know what I did that day, but I was ready, so you were ready, you just had the mindset you're eating hot dogs down.

Jennifer Loehding:

That's great. I don't know if that I could do it. That's that's. I'd be like I don't have to the bread after we're like getting that bread, like try to get it down your throat. So I'm totally impressed with that. So, moving forward into your running, because you've said some PRs now and you've got Boston in sight that you're wanting to do so tell us a little. December 2023, about three weeks later, it was like how would you run double that who?

Andrew Smith:

how do you do that? And I had to scratch that itch and figure it out. So December, that month, I started figuring out a podcast to listen to, figuring out okay, what does a plan look like? I looked up a marathonhandbookcom free training plan and I looked up when races were, and so marathon by May became the idea. And then I did some more research on weather patterns in Texas and I realized May is very hot for a marathon.

Jennifer Loehding:

So how about?

Andrew Smith:

April. So I actually found Irving Marathon April 1st and that gave me about 14 weeks to prepare. So I looked up the just general training plan. It was like, all right, run some speed, work a little bit, do a long run every weekend. I kind of thought, do some cross training figure out? You know I like to play basketball, softball, other sports. I didn't want to stop doing those run three times a week. I was like I'm not going to overdo it, but I've got to get that long run in to figure out how to get there.

Andrew Smith:

So on my first long run in January I ran eight miles and at the end of that I met my family. My family met me at a park. The kids went and played and there was a guy in a New York City Marathon jacket and he was just talking about some people running and I was certainly interested in that moving in that direction and I just butted myself into the conversation and he ends up inviting me into his running club. So the Canyon Creek Running Club in Richardson was just a free group of people, just kind of running, and he's like, hey, track Tuesdays, let's go, come meet us. 530 or 515 every Tuesday. We do speed work. I was like, ok, great.

Andrew Smith:

So I incorporated that into my routine, into my plan and to this day, even this morning, I'm running with those guys. So that was a key part of getting the right people around me. And little did I know that I was getting like elite level camaraderie with these guys, because they all run 230, 240 marathons. So they're running six minute miles or 615, 620s and it's like whoa, that's next level. So I get to enjoy the warmup lap with them before they lap me on the track. But it was the perfect people to start the training process with as I got going, because getting the right people around you is key to making something like this happen.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah, yeah, no, it's good, and I agree with you on the people. You know it's interesting too. There's a lot of parallels when we talk about, you know, like athleticism, be it running or whatever sport it is that we take. You know a lot even in business, right, because a lot of the listeners that listen to this show I'm assuming we've got other types of listeners as well, but I would assume we've got a good chunk of business owners and people that are in places where they're trying to grow and leadership and that kind of thing. So I think there's a lot of parallels when we talk about this, because you do your training early in the morning, like we just talked about, you know, before the kids are moving, and I get it because that's we've had to do that here too, when we were running a lot.

Jennifer Loehding:

Our kids were young and we had to kind of navigate. I remember I don't even know how I did this now I laugh about it now because I'm like, oh my gosh, I don't even have the the willpower to want to do this, but I would get up and you know, in the morning at like four and put my water pack on and go out and run in the dark down the blue trail in Carrollton, you know, out and do maybe like 11, you know 10, 11 miles in the morning, be back before everybody was like ready to get out the door, you know, and then I'd start my day. And now I'm just like I get. I still get up that early every day, but the thought of wanting to do all that, I'm just like no.

Andrew Smith:

Yes, yeah, you've got to have some motivator in your life. That's like going to do something you've ever done or got a big goal, and I think that's what it was for me. I in general, like achievement, I like going for something big. I actually set goals in almost every area of my life and so this is just one of them. And, yes, planning around the kids is important because, as I was getting into it, I had a few people. They were like hey, you don't want to be a deadbeat dad marathon runner because you can spend so many hours. And that is what I discovered as I ramped up my mileage, especially as I got over 13 miles.

Andrew Smith:

That's like all right, that's a two to three hour run with like a 30 to 40 minute prep plus a two hour recovery when you're just starting out. It was super challenging and that would end up being four to five hours of my day and I try to keep it all in the morning, but sometimes it wasn't, so sometimes it was afternoon and I'm just gone Right.

Andrew Smith:

Yeah, I really did try to figure out how to put it in the morning. But the first training cycle was extremely challenging and sacrificial for my wife to just continue to hold down the fort as she as she had to. But as I got ramped up in mileage and just PR'd for new longest distance I've ever run each week it was a crazy process because I'm just mind blown that I just ran 15 miles. Oh, I just tried to run 17 miles. Oh no, I get a call. Baby threw up. I got to go back home, all right, so that one got cut short. All right, I'm going to go for 18 miles. Oh, I did a bad planning on how long the route is Ended up being 19 miles, right, all right, here's 21 miles. What are we doing here? I just did that. Then my peak training run was supposed to be a 22 miler. It ended up being again a 23 miler. So that was like run from Watermark all the way down a white around White Rock Lake back up to Watermark. That was 23 miles.

Andrew Smith:

In the middle of that training cycle, rick Smith, back to the half marathon. He invited me to go run New York City in November. So although I had Irving's April 1st on the calendar, my wife and I, we decided we're going to make that our 10 year anniversary trip in November, so November 2023. Yeah, 23 or 24. Anyway, we decided, let's make a trip of it. I guess I'm just running a bunch this year. Let's make a trip of it. I guess I'm just running a bunch this year. So basically ran Irving April 1st. It went well. I did it in 4.03. It's like a 9.17 average mile. So that was pretty good.

Andrew Smith:

And then I took a couple months off and then had a whole nother shock training summer marathon cycle for New York. New York went really well. I did it in 348. And so that's like an 848 average mile. But it's super hilly, it's very challenging with the bridges and such, and that was fun and I was like I'm in better shape than I've ever been in my whole life.

Andrew Smith:

I've run a couple of marathons. That's so cool. Never expected that. And I was like, hey, becca, that's my wife's name. And what could I do on a flat course, can I sign up for another one? And so she's like, yes, happy birthday, here you go.

Andrew Smith:

So I signed up for Houston in January 2024. And that looked like. So I had a mini training session and that guy I ran into on my first long run, the eight mile. He ended up coaching me and so that actually helped a lot.

Andrew Smith:

And what happened was, uh, I always set an A goal, a B goal and a C goal. C goal was always like this is more than attainable, b goal is kind of the target, a goal is a stretch. So the stretch goal for that one was 330. And I beat that. So I beat the stretch goal and I did a 329, which was a 759 average mile, eight minute mile basically for a marathon. So a huge improvement over eight months and that was kind of it. It was a huge, thrilling, emotional finish and from there we were pregnant with our fourth kid. So I was like, all right, that's it for now. That was the season. So in this time last year, all spring, summer, 2024, I kind of ran, but not much, and then our fourth child was born in August 2024 and then he started sleeping pretty well generally you got back up we're never sleeping great, but we were just like I think I want to keep doing this.

Andrew Smith:

so in October 2024 signed up for Houston again. Uh, so didn't do any marathons for a full year, but I had a full training cycle and the key difference in that training cycle was I found a guy in my neighborhood who was my speed, so he had a coach who was my speed and I was able to integrate into his plan and just have someone to literally wake up with and we could go run wherever.

Andrew Smith:

So, having Michael Groves join the story was is a key part of this, I think he and a friend named Ray. He's he's an ultra marathoner. Ray has done so many 50 milers and 100 milers, it's like what, but he's not as much a road racer anyway. So back to Houston, set my a goal, again really aggressively, at three, 15 this time, and I beat that again. So Houston 2025, I did a three, 14. Um, so that's a seven 25 average mile.

Andrew Smith:

And then I signed up for one more. Back in our. My wife and I were home. We're high school sweethearts. Uh, went to Lafayette high and then we, we dated long distance through college. I went to Baylor, she went to Mississippi college. Uh, we got married. When we moved here that was 12 years ago, but back in Lafayette, so that family could come and support I did the Zydeco Marathon. So this was just this past March, a couple months ago, and so I had a little bit of training. I didn't incredibly improve, but I still PR'd. I did 312.

Andrew Smith:

So that's like a 721 average mile and you know this whole journey has just been like all right if I improve another 15 minutes, like I did, from 329 to 314 or I'm getting to the point that's like Boston is a possibility. Right, getting to that three hour threshold is now like possible, but it's also daunting because it's not just the threshold of three hours that you qualify. There's so many people that qualify now for Boston. Yeah, this past Boston that just happened a few weeks ago. It was like a 258 that you had to run Well next year it's projected to be more like a 256, 250, who knows how long.

Andrew Smith:

So like, all right, my actual goal needs to be 255 if I want to actually run. Boston in 2027 is really what I'm shooting for aiming for.

Jennifer Loehding:

So you're gonna do it.

Andrew Smith:

You're gonna do it I mean, if not, yeah, if not this january at houston, then maybe next year. But I'm taking the long term view right. I'm not that fast yet. I'm still in my training and every month what I enjoy whether I was in training or out of training meaning like last spring and summer when I wasn't training I always tested my 5k time. I ran it as hard as I could and that was always a good data point to see how fast am I or how much am I slowing down. So, not training season. I was slowing down 10 seconds, five seconds, 30 seconds and then, as I got back in shape this fall and summer and winter, it got faster and faster and faster and faster. So it's been really fun to train to see that result and have that data point along the way to see how the plan is working and how I'm getting faster. Yeah, no, it's good.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah, no, I think it's great and there's so many. That's why I said there's so many parallels here, whether you're, you know, running training for marathons or you're trying to stretch for the next big goal in business. And so I love these conversations and I think the big thing I keep hearing, you know, that you're talking about here really is like this adaptability, right, like this just learning to adapt and readjust and continue to persist through. So because not only that, your wife is having to adapt with these kiddos, right, like because I've been on that side not as many kids as you've had, but we were talking about this, I mean, when we moved from Houston to Dallas. You know, I had the three and my youngest was four months old, and I remember it wasn't.

Jennifer Loehding:

We came here in July and I want to say it was in October that we went to Arkansas for and my I don't know if my husband ran a 50 miler or a-miler there, because by then he was starting to do these crazy races and I remember taking those kids and we had a flat tire there, I mean, and he was running and we couldn't get his help because it was like what do you do? He's in the middle of the forest in Arkansas and I'm, you know, navigating these. So it is. It's a big sacrifice on the other side of that, you know. So I think adaptability is huge here. I think I think and working together.

Jennifer Loehding:

But you said also a lot of really good things about having the right support systems, and I think that is universal in everything we do as well. Right, it's like having the right people in your space to not only encourage you but mentorship, you know, and you are like the sum of the five you hang around, right. So if you want to get to be a faster runner, find faster runners to mesh in with. Right. My husband used to do a lot of that too. He would go on Saturday mornings and go down to the White Rock and run with runners there, and he did some of the Tuesday night speed work things too. I remember like Ollie so funny because we're in a different phase now where we still both exercise every day but it's like he still goes out and runs and he rides his bike, and every now and then we'll be like, hey, do you want to go down and do like the? What is this? I'm drawing the in July at Buckner they do the. I'm like I can't even think of it.

Andrew Smith:

We've ran it several years but it's not like all those races Like we ran it several years, but it's not like all those races are hotter than hell or something I don't know.

Jennifer Loehding:

They're worth that one. I think we did one of those. There was that. It's a big one that's down at Buckner Park and they do it every July and I'm drawing a blank, but I brought it up. I'm like, hey, do you want to go down there? We can run a 5K and see if we can get through this. You know it to a different place, but I think it's good and I think if you're enjoying it and wife's on board there's, you know there's a lot to be done with this and you guys can travel and Boston is, it's fun, it's cool.

Jennifer Loehding:

I will tell you this If you go, maybe find babysitter for the kids, because it'd be a lot easier if the wife wants to go and tell her to plan the tram, because I'm not kidding you, like I rode all the way out to see him at the halfway and I did not make it back to the finish line. He finished before I got back because it's so crazy busy and just to like get to. Like you know where the finisher when you come in at the finish, every block is like an alphabet letter name of people. So like you know wherever you are. Smith, you're way down there. Oh, we were in the middle but you had to get like through all these masses of people. But it's fun. It's a fun race and there's a lot going on there, and go for it.

Jennifer Loehding:

I say, do it. I mean you need to do it at least once. I think my husband ran it in, I want to say 2002. So it's been a while. It was. It's been a while since we did that. He did it and got it done and then he moved on to trail running and really enjoyed a lot of that stuff and you know it's a different, different world. But, um, it's fun too, it's, it's different. You might end up there Sunday, who knows, you never know, right.

Andrew Smith:

Yeah, absolutely that's the goal for now. You know I I do have long-term later why I couldn't get into triathlete stuff, ironmans and that sort of stuff. I don't own a bike right now, I can't swim that great, but I think that's going to be a natural extension of this. One day after I'm kind of done with the road racing. You know achievements and so Olympic marathons sound like a general distance that's comparable, and then you get into your half iron man's, which is a big step up, and then full iron man's, a whole nother ball game. But it's not great as crazy it's.

Andrew Smith:

I mean, it's just as crazy as these ultras that are 100 miles, crazy right all that right, yeah, or pour it though, yeah, yeah, you know, but right now I'm just enjoying the season of trying to get faster. I'm getting more efficient with my training so I don't have to waste as much time away from the family Again, I'm just trying to do it 5 to 7 am every weekday and on the weekends it's like 5 to 8. My wife goes to yoga every Saturday at 8.30. And that's sacred almost.

Jennifer Loehding:

Like we try to really honor that for each other. Yeah.

Andrew Smith:

And then, as much as I can, I'm getting my kids involved too. So we'll go to the track on Saturdays. I've been testing their 100 meter dash or their 40 meter dash or their scooter 100 meter dash. I did a three miler with me last weekend. I've gone as far as seven or eight miles with them scootering. Yeah, that's amazing. So the five and eight year old are doing great. They're trying to get the three-year-old almost three-year-old up to speed. He did a little half mile last, like if this weekend that was kind of cool. It's like all right, he's getting faster. And then you know the eight month old right now a little bit, but yeah, but I did do I did do a run with all four of them for the first time last weekend oh fun.

Jennifer Loehding:

So the two smaller ones in a stroller, the other two scootering, so that was kind of cool yeah, but oh my gosh, yeah, I laugh at all because I just remember doing like the, the double, the scooter, the, the stroller, running, running with the stroller and yeah all of them say it's so funny.

Jennifer Loehding:

But you know, I think all of our kids, all three of ours, at different time frame I had two that went into cross country and track one ended up getting a scholarship to run um, but all of them. I remember Kara, my oldest she's 28 now but I remember taking her we were in Houston still and her doing like a 5k. I had pictures of her. I mean she was little, she was a toddler and had her little number badge on, and so we tried to kind of do the same thing, get them all in. And Kara did a little bit of cross country in middle school and then Paige and Sean kind of went on and did it in high school at different times, and so it no, I mean it's free, like you said, and it gets everybody moving and if you're enjoying it, you know it's great.

Jennifer Loehding:

I would love to ask you kind of I want to. This is kind of a mindset question. I know we don't have much time, but I know somebody listening to this has heard all of these and we've talked about like the discipline, adaptability, all of these things. But and you've even talked a lot about mindset we haven't directly talked about but I'd love to know for somebody listening to this, let's say whether it's business or sport, whatever it is those moments when you're like, oh my gosh, I just want to put it down right, like we've all been there like, throw that towel in the room, what is like? What is going through your mind? What are you doing there? Like, what do you? How are you working yourself through that?

Andrew Smith:

Yeah, I put one foot in front of the other. I certainly face challenges, little injuries, discouragement, thought I could do something better than I did, didn't deliver on it. What do you do when you're stuck in the middle of the night with a kid that's woken up and you're like I'm about to go run X, many miles. I have such assignments due. What else can you do but put one foot in front of the other? Good, do all that you can and leave it. Leave the rest up to up to God. Like.

Andrew Smith:

So you know, this whole extension, all of this to me is a is an extension of the bigger vision. And so, like the mission might be Boston, but the bigger vision is just live all that. Love God, that's what it is for me. Love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. This is a lot of the strength part, but there's a ton of mindset in that. And what more can I do than put one foot in front of the other and just push through to the next thing? All pain will come to an end. There is a greater reward at the end, and in the suck of it it's going to end. Just know that. Hey, you will get through this. There's a ton of people supporting you, there's a cloud of witnesses, there's a bunch of people supporting, and so, whether that's business, whether that's running, absolutely you can continue on and make an inspiring story, right. So that's that's my mindset, that's my bigger, why I do all this, yeah, and that's just, you know, fulfilling my purpose, my, my potential. I hope.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah, and it really is about stepping one foot, you know, just putting one foot out there. It's the hardest thing, right? Is the getting started. Once you start getting it, you know, going in, and I always talk about this, even in business. You know like I came from, I was in. I think I shared with you, I was in Mary Kay, I was in leadership for a very long time. I was with that company 22 years and I always, you know, when I'm talking about sales, let's move away from sports for just a minute athleticism and let's go just into business sales, because we all have to sell something right? When I was in that business, I was selling cosmetics Okay, so we're doing makeup and there would be this period I always used to talk about this.

Jennifer Loehding:

I call it the crash and burn, you know phase.

Jennifer Loehding:

It's where you're like got the momentum and the stride and everything's going well, and then you sort of stop doing things you like because you're riding the high right, and then, guess what happens? Everything stops. Kind of like you were talking about the running right. You set scale back a little bit and then what happens? You have to get the momentum going again and it takes a little period of time to get the momentum going. And so when you said the one step forward, I also attribute that, you know, to just trying to keep consistency, keep moving right, like, keep going, even if you're not going at the highest pace that you want or at the highest of your peak right, just continually keep moving, because the starting over is harder, right, and it's no different in what you're talking about, running, as it is in business as well. Every time we get that high and then we're like, okay, I'm coasting now because I did really good, now let me celebrate, I'm going to stop, and then guess what you got to start over again.

Jennifer Loehding:

So I think it's great. I love that you said that one step forward, because I know you're talking about it in just in the middle of you know something going on that could potentially stop you, but it's so good and really interesting. Consistent too right, because we're not always going to be at our peak and we're not always going to be reaching a goal, but if we're staying consistent, we can keep moving towards the bigger, overarching thing that we're trying to do.

Andrew Smith:

Putting one foot and step in front of the other doesn't mean always running. I'm talking about like get out of bed.

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah.

Andrew Smith:

Rush your teeth. What is the next little thing you need to do for your business?

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah.

Andrew Smith:

Who do you need to call Right? What list do you need to create to get organized Right? What person should you be in touch with? Just, it's just simple things. And especially when you're really in a mental crisis, if you're depressed, if someone's just died, if, like you're really challenging things, that is just real. Sometimes you just need to grieve, sometimes you need to rest. Whatever that next step is, it's just like you don't have to worry about tomorrow, that has enough worries about itself. Is just like you don't have to worry about tomorrow, that has enough worries about itself. Like, just worry about today, what is in front of you. Take it one step at a time. Right, that's how it's manageable. When you just think what is the next thing? What is the next? Who do you? What's the next thing I need to do?

Jennifer Loehding:

Yeah, I don't know about you, andrew. Like I give myself sort of like time limits on things, like when we're talking about like dealing with things, like if I'm really in a moment where I'm feeling stuck, like I'm a very action-oriented person. So when I say that and maybe you can relate to this, I'm sure others can I don't have the capacity to sit and dwell in stuff for a very long time. Like my natural tendency is let's go to work, let's get into action. So, whether it's if I wake up tomorrow and I'm like man, I'm not big on exercising myself out of a bad diet. I'm very conscientious about what I eat, but I just got back from a cruise and I did pretty good while I was there, but I did think I snuck into desserts. Like one night I had a brownie because it was like, oh my gosh, I need one bad. And the next day I got up I'm like you know what? We ain't doing that today because no, no, no, no, no. You know so I'm not one to stay stuck in things. I go into action. So in a moment like that I'm going to be like regrouping immediately.

Jennifer Loehding:

But if there's something that's really hard, you know like I need to sit in that emotion and I think what you said allow yourself to go through that Like I will tell myself, like, give yourself a time limit to sort of grieve, pout, get mad, whatever that is. If I need to pout because I'm pissed off about something, like it's like you got 24 hours, jennifer. You get that out and do whatever you need to do. Get mad, get angry, do whatever. But tomorrow when you get up, what's your next thing? You're doing? What are you doing? What's that next step?

Jennifer Loehding:

So I love that you said you know, allow yourself to go through, to have that right, but then do your next step, because I think that's important. I think a lot of times we get frozen like right, like we have a big goal and then it doesn't go the way we want, and so we get upset and we beat ourselves up and then we just go, oh, and then we get stuck right Because we didn't do the metric, we didn't reach it right, instead of just saying what's the next step I can do to do it again, because you're still further than you were when you started, even if you didn't reach a goal. You're still further than you were the day one when you started the whole thing you know, so you're still winning is the way I see it right.

Andrew Smith:

Yeah, it's easy to compare yourself against your former self or where you used to be. That's how I think we should compare ourselves. But even it's not all about achieving. Like, in 10 years, do I expect to be running as fast as I am? No, that's not a fair comparison, even against myself. But I can set a new goal in a different way. I can set a different type of metric, and that's what it is. We get to choose, especially, especially in sports, things that don't really matter. But in business, set your goals and do what you can and, uh, you know. Don't worry about all the rest and don't care about what everybody else says right, yeah, enjoy it that's.

Jennifer Loehding:

I think that's the biggest lesson I've learned now that I'm in my 50s. I think it's just to enjoy, enjoy the process. If that's like something I could tell myself when I was younger, or maybe somebody you know, like you guys, enjoy the process. Oh my gosh. Enjoy your kids, because they grow up so freaking quickly and then they're just, they don't need you anymore, you know. But even the running, enjoy all of it because it goes so very quickly.

Jennifer Loehding:

You know and and you do you do different things, like you're talking, maybe you are still doing the same, I don't know but you go into different places and you can change your goals and your metrics and, like I tell people now, like I work out every day and if I go out and I do a little bit of. You know, I've been running like two, two and a half miles and I've been pretty cool with that because I for a while I was sick, I couldn't, and so now I'm happy because I'm getting back out there and doing it. I'm not going to lie, like I said in the very beginning, it hurts, but when I'm done I'm like, yes, done for the day. You know, I've got my workout, I feel good and we just changed the goals. You know the metrics change and what we had planned to do, but I think you're doing great stuff, andrew, we used to pull up the racing things in the papers and stuff.

Jennifer Loehding:

I still have pictures that come up on my phone or my. You know, I told you my middle was a runner and she ran her first marathon. I ran it with her in Tulsa when she was 16. She did on her 16th birthday, actually ran her first marathon. So I every now and then get the photos you know my memories and Facebook that come up, that I'll see, like where my husband's done something or I've done something, or Paige, or you know, sean, or whatever. It's fun to see those things like like, look what we did, this is kind of cool. We were sort of badasses at one day, you know one time, so it's fun. So I'm excited to see what you do and where this all goes and you know, enjoying it and hope you have fun doing it.

Andrew Smith:

Yeah, appreciate it, thank you.

Jennifer Loehding:

So if maybe a listener on here wants to get in touch with you, maybe they want to, you know, follow you, or maybe they want to chat with you, maybe they're aspiring to go into this area and they like, hey, tell me what you've been doing and what's your morning routine, give me all the nitty gritty, because we didn't get to get into everything. Where do we want to send them? How do they get in touch with you?

Andrew Smith:

Sure, so my full name is Andrew Moss Smith, and so that's kind of my handle for everything Andrew Moss Smith at Instagram. Slash for LinkedIn, facebook, you know, andrew Moss Smith at gmailcom. So those are all the easy ways to get in touch with me.

Jennifer Loehding:

Perfect, and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of your stuff, you know, kind of floating through there somewhere. You'll keep us up on everything, so this has been fun, andrew. Thank you for sharing your story and hopefully inspiring our audience. I'm sure that you know they're going to find something amazing in this and, who knows, maybe we'll get some new runners out of all this.

Andrew Smith:

Sounds good. Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

Jennifer Loehding:

Absolutely and, of course, to our audience. We appreciate you and hope, like I said, that you found this episode both informative and inspiring, and if you want to get in touch with Andrew, we're going to put all that out there for you on the show notes. You'll be able to get in touch with him and you know what to do. If you like the episode, share it, comment, Do all the things, subscribe, so we can keep sharing all of this fabulous content. And, as I always say, in order to live the extraordinary, you must start, and every start begins with a decision. You guys, take care, be safe, be kind to one another and we will see you next time.

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