011 Lovelyn Findley - O-Town Blazers Founder

Lovelyn Findley is a remarkable individual who has made significant strides in the trail running community of Central Florida. As the leader of the O-town Blazers trail running group, Lovelyn has played a pivotal role in inspiring and motivating runners of all levels to explore the beautiful trails of the region.

Every Saturday, rain or shine, Lovelyn leads the O-town Blazers on exhilarating trail running adventures, primarily along the renowned Florida Trail. Her passion for the sport is infectious, as she encourages her fellow runners to push their boundaries and discover the hidden wonders of nature.

Lovelyn's own journey in trail running is quite impressive. While she may be relatively new to the world of trail running, she has quickly established herself as an ultra-distance runner. She fearlessly tackles challenging terrains and long distances, continuously striving to conquer her personal bests.

In addition to her dedication to trail running, Lovelyn is a loving mother to two boys. Balancing her responsibilities as a parent with her passion for running is a testament to her resilience and determination. She is an inspiration not only to her children but also to the entire O-town Blazers community, demonstrating that it is possible to pursue personal goals while nurturing a fulfilling family life.

Check out the O-Town Blazers community page for group runs!
https://www.instagram.com/otown_blazers/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/437626567487383/

Florida hikes
https://floridahikes.com/

If you're looking for some fall races for your 2023 calendar, check out our races open for registration now!
https://www.runbumtours.com/

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Transcript

ScottApants: [00:00:00] What's up you guys? It's your boy ScottAPants coming to you live from the Run Bum Studios out here in Leadville, Colorado. Uh, we have an awesome episode today. We have Loveland Finley from down in Orlando, Florida. Uh, her and Run Bum have an awesome conversation about o Town Blazers, the running community that she started a couple years ago.

Um, it's a great conversation. I do just wanna say that there was a huge lightning storm that interrupted the conversation at the end. So, uh, you know, Pardon the dust. Uh, a little bit of technical difficulties on this one, but it's a great podcast. Check it out. Coming up next. 

Runbum: Hi, my name is Shawn Bla, but my friends call me Shawn Michael, or Run Bum.

I've run over 300 ultra marathons. I've been first, last and everything in between. I started and owned run Bum Races where we put on 11. Trail and ultra running races a year from central Florida to Southern Virginia. I hope that with my trail running and race directing experience that I can help you train smarter, [00:01:00] run further, and fall in love with trail running.

If you find this podcast helpful and or entertaining, please help me out by sharing it. I'd also like to invite you to run or volunteer at one of our mini races. Welcome friends to the Bend Don't Break podcast.

Hey y'all. What is going on? It is of course Runbum here. Shawn Blanton. Shawn Michael, and excited after a big long pause in the podcast that we're getting back to it. Apologize for that. Had a really busy race season. I got two new folks helping us out now, and I've been taking a lot of time to try. For my own mental and physical health, uh, just take a break, not only from work but from the podcast, which isn't really work, but it is.

Um, so just excited to get back. Hope everybody is having a great summer. Uh, this summer on the podcast, we're gonna try to focus on stuff that [00:02:00] aren't, My race is specifically, but we're just gonna interview a lot of really cool people, um, that we feel have a really good story or are connected to areas that we spend a lot of time in.

Um, so without, Further ado today's podcast, uh, I interview Loveland Finley, uh, who is down in Oviedo, for those of you don't know, that is a suburb of, uh, Orlando. Uh, she started the o Town Blazers. They're big trail running group, uh, just east of Orlando, getting a lot of people in the trail running. Getting people into ultras, uh, and especially a lot of women into trail rank.

It's really cool what they're doing down there. Uh, Loveland's awesome person. She's run many of my events. Uh, she runs a lot of like races from 5K all the way to a hundred miles all over the country. She's from the Philippines originally. Very excited to have her on the podcast [00:03:00] today. So let's welcome Loveland Finley.

All right guys. As you saw, uh, I hope you saw on Facebook. Social, any social media outlet, Instagram, all that stuff, TikTok, whatever your kids are listening to and watching these days. But this past week we opened up the Cloudland Canyon Trail race. We have a 50 mile, 50 k a half marathon, and of course the five miler, uh, it's almost sold out, which is incredible.

We were able to broker a deal with Georgia State Parks. Thank God. We also have Scott a summit, uh, on sale, which is end of October, that's almost sold out. Excited for that. It's gonna be all the fall color colors. Um, and for those of you guys who are in Florida listening to this podcast, we'd love to have you come up to North Georgia.

But furthermore, uh, and probably easier for you guys is wild Florida in November. That benefits a hundred percent the [00:04:00] Florida Trail Association, and then that's November in North central Florida. And of course, our fame's forgotten Florida. A hundred mile, 50 mile, 15 mile and eight mile is always the first weekend of February.

All those are on sale and almost sold, sold out. So please go now. No wait list. Much love. Thank you all for listening to the podcast. I hope to see you guys soon. We're gonna be cranking out episodes all summer as the Run Bumb race team is traveling all over the world. Big shout out to Scott, who is in Colorado training for the Le Leadville 50 mile, the Silver Rush 50 miler coming up.

So he said he's going for the win and we wanna support him however we can. Big shout out to that guy, Scott. Love you.

All right. Our next guest right now is Loveland Finley, who now resides in Greater [00:05:00] Orlando in the Oviedo area. She is one heck of a runner. She's run many ultra marathons. She's run races from 5K to a hundred miles, I believe. Uh, and she also started the o Town Blazers, um, an Orlando based trail running group, uh, who also advocates for.

Um, sharing the trails, getting people into trail running, and empowering not only men, but women, uh, very specifically. Um, doing a great job with that, getting them into trail running and feeling comfortable on the trails. They do a lot of give back. I could talk for 20 minutes about all the things that she's done.

So Loveland, thank you for joining the Bend Don't Break podcast today. How you going? Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. Uh, I feel like this has been like long overdue. Um, I've been on a couple of y'all's, uh, group, uh, trail work days. Um, Deanna, my COCE director has been on some, uh, [00:06:00] group runs with you guys.

I love what you're doing. I think it's awesome. Uh, why don't you tell me a little bit about how you started the o Town Blazers and like when that was So it. 2020 right in the height of the pandemic. Right. Um, there was, uh, three, my two other female friend who, um, basically we ran on trails together. They, they're the one that really introduced me to trail running.

Um, I fell in love with it. Just, you know, I love hiking and I love being in the woods, so it's kind of natural for me to actually really like trail running. I, like, I run on the roads too, you know, during that time, but, Just being out in the woods is just completely different work. Um, so what I end up doing is just, you know, asking around my friends and saying, Hey, do you know any trail running group out there that we can join in, um, in central Florida?

Because, you know, as a female runner, [00:07:00] we just don't feel safe running on our own by ourselves in the woods. So, um, you know, it's, it's kind of not smart, right? We don't encourage one another to go on their, on our own. So, um, so I just. You know, wanted to see who else is out there doing the same thing that we're doing, that we're like doing.

Um, I'm really new to the trail running scene, so I really didn't know what it was gonna be like. So I, I'm, I'm pretty involved in social media as part of my, it's part of my works part, it's part of what I do. So I said, Hey, why not? Let's just start a group on, on Facebook and see what happens. So we started the uh, Facebook group and said, we're gonna meet up at Black Bear Wilderness for the first run.

And we had eight, nine people showed up and that was kind of how it started. And, you know, I started talking to other people and especially other women. Um, they're really glad that we started this group because they would never feel really comfortable being on their own. And the woods, you know, what, if something happened to them, they trip their fall or it's just kind of scary out there [00:08:00]sometimes, especially, you know, if you don't know the area you, if you don't know how to, you know, navigate well, you know, just it's, it just.

It feels a lot better when there's more in numbers. So, um, I get a lot of that comment that's, you know, they're really grateful that we have this group, um, and a platform for people to just say, Hey, you know, uh, I wanna run this Saturday. Is, does anybody wanna join me? So really that was the whole point. Uh, point of o Oldtown Blazers and every Saturday been like, what, since 2020 and.

We've done a lot of Saturdays together, so it's been really cool. I think that's awesome. You know it, what, what you hit on there, um, it's like nail on the head and it's not just, To, and I've talked about this a lot before and I continue to talk about it because it, it's a real fear that people have, not only fe female, but male as well is, is people, [00:09:00] you know, it's a lot of, it's fear of the unknown too.

Like, you know, especially in Florida, people are like, oh my God, a gator is gonna like fly and gather me in a snake and a bear and a panther. And it's like they're all just waiting up there when reality, like they're not, but you know, and, um, You know, and the more noise you make with a big group of people, you know, it definitely helps you feel, feel comfortable as well.

But you know, we, we did a study a while ago and it was asking, uh, female only women, uh, road runners, why they don't trail run and. As the aforementioned reasons, that was it. And so we thought like, well, how are we gonna solve this? And what you are doing is the solution is, you know, women taking other women, uh, in numbers into the trails, whether that be in central Florida nor Georgia, California does not matter.

And, uh, I think that's awesome what you're doing. And, and, and again, I, I reiterate to people listening to this, I know that's not just. Women, women, [00:10:00] it's men as well. Mm-hmm. And that's a very valid thing. I mean, um, you know, I think it's funny, as you know, I spent a lot of time in Florida. I've spent a lot of time out west.

And it's funny because in Florida you're like, You think of again, like, uh, snakes and uh, alligators and stuff like that. And then when you go out west, you're like, oh my God, there's like bears and moose and, you know, stuff like that. Or rattlesnake, you know. And it's funny because live, if somebody's in Florida, they're like, oh my God, that's scary.

And if somebody's over there, they're like, that's scary. And it's a lot of, it's just not what we're. If we're not used to being around something, cuz familiarity really helps you be comfortable with with things and Absolutely. Yeah, and I think it's just taking that first step and I see you guys doing that.

I think it's awesome. Yeah. Well believe me, I was never that person. In like the three lakes, right? It's overgrown and there's, it's, um, you know, I don't even know whenever I go there's always different, it's always different. It looks different, but it's the same. But [00:11:00] I mean, it's scary, but I really, like you said, you know, it's just about being familiar and we've been doing this for a couple years now, and now I'm, I'm willing to just venture out and say, Hey, you know what, if it's gonna be muddy, Probably there's gonna be a lot of, you know, there's some, um, BOS or pigs or bears.

I mean, who cares? We're just more familiar now and we're willing to go. And sometimes people always say, aren't you afraid of the snakes? And I'm like, I'm pretty sure they're there. I just, it just doesn't bother me anymore. I'm sure they're there, but yeah, familiarity is definitely a, a key thing too when it comes to trail running for sure.

So, Your oldtown blazers, like, how, how many people are part of this group? I like, I love it. You got a hat on right now. You guys start off like a couple ladies running now. You got swag, you got like a big group. How, how, how big has this gotten, you know, every Saturday. Different when I meet maybe one or two people every Saturday that have never been there, um, their first timer.

So we, uh, in a Nor like when it's [00:12:00] not hot during the summer, we get about 20 people, 15 to 20 people every Saturday, sometimes even more. It's just depending on the location, right? Um, black Bear Wilderness is one of our favorites, so we get, sometimes we get 30, sometimes we get 40. So it really depends, but, um, we, it kind of circulates, you know, it's alternates.

Sometimes people come in, in and out. So, I mean, being a Facebook member doesn't mean, uh, you run with us. Sometimes people say, I've been a member for, you know, two years, but this is my first time, you know, and finally get to run with you. Although we have about 700 plus in there. And then also in, um, on, um, Instagram, we have totally different members in there, so, It's not that cool.

Yeah. Yeah. That's really cool. So would you say like, where are most people concentrated in? Like, are people coming from like, like two hours away to come run with you guys sometimes? Um. No, I think most people are concentrated in [00:13:00] central Florida, like I would say like the Apopka area and towards like chi, um, Oviedo.

So very like we're that central. I know there are other trail runner groups out there that are more northern, Northern and us, which is like the, OR beach area or like Ocala area, Marion, Marianne County area. So there's a few out there, which is, we're the, we're pretty much it in central Florida. Most people.

Um, you know, would travel about an hour, an hour and a half to trail run with us, or we would do the same thing for them. So yeah, we're pretty saturated here in central Florida. It's really incredible to me. Like if you look at like Tampa, like between Tampa and really like the coast on like Titusville, um, Merritt Island area, there's so many different trails to run and of course you have Orlando being in the middle and kind of just dictating what the traffic, where you can go.

Um, I, I'd like to say I've run most of the [00:14:00] places. Um, and I've fallen in love with it. I mean, I don't, during the summer would be really hard. Uh, as long as I'm not the first person, you know, I feel like I'd be OK with that. You get spiders. I get the honor of doing that most of the time, but sometimes we get a volunteer after the fast one and go, I'm like, go for it, man.

Yeah, and I think it's cool too. You guys go to like so many different races. You guys support a bunch of stuff and, and. Really you encourage the people running, um, you know, from first to to last. Um, cause you gotta get some fast runners and you got some, you know, you got everything, you know? Yes. Um, yeah, we, that's really important to me.

You know, I know there's a lot of fast trail runners out there. Some of them are like one of my good friends in the trail running community. And then, then some that are just like really fast walkers, which is sometimes I need to learn from them. But we, it's something that I really encourage in the group, you know, [00:15:00] to support that.

It's not just. Fast runners here. You know, we, that's not what the group is about. The group is about encouraging one another and helping each other with that capability that, you know, you, you may start out as slow, but then, you know, part of your train, it's part of your training. Um, maybe a couple years from now, you get faster and faster.

That's great. But really it's just, it's just really just a, a group of people that we want to say, you know, like, Hey, If she can do it or he can do it, I can do it too. Uh, that's the main thing. And then we're here to support them, however that might be by crewing, you know, giving advice. Um, I mean giving advice about like what kind of shoes to wear even, you know, or kind of socks or how do you take care of your feet?

I mean, that's just what it's all about. It doesn't matter if you're fast or slow. Um, it's really about seeing everybody be successful in their own goals.

Yeah. That's awesome. I mean, it's so, it's [00:16:00] tough, I feel like to get into trail running, um, it's very tough to get into trail running because like there's a lot of, you know, that, oh my gosh, like. Yeah. Yeah. You're that like stepping into that unknown. Yeah. Daunting. Yeah. Yeah. It's daunting. And then you see all these people running a hundred mile races and, and I always tell people this, I truly believe this.

It's like not everyone's in destination should be to run an ultra marathon or a hundred miles. Um, you know, it's, and, and, and I love, I love group runs because it's like, Most group runs, uh, with the exception, I can think of one group run. It's like there is no, like, you're not trying to see how fast you can go.

You know, you're just out there to enjoy other people and be outside. I mean, what a better, uh, what better group to be with than people that are like, want to go do trail miles. So I, anybody listening to this, if you're in central Florida region or if you're visiting Orlando, you're taking your family [00:17:00] to the beach, or of course Disney World.

Go hit up o town Blazers, you know, you'll have a good Saturday. Yeah. We kinda sense that already. You know, once you're, you know, when we do like a little circle on our, you know, before we start running and we kind of do like a little huddle and we'll do like our group photo, um, I think people can sense that, that like, you know what, this is the place where I can just be relaxed and enjoy the outdoors if I wanna run.

Speed that day. I'll, you know, I'll go on my own. There's no need. But the whole point is being together, um, in this group and there's always those three different, um, speed. We have the, you know, the fast runners who wants to get, you know, we let them go because then they get all the spider web, and then where's the middle runners and then the walkers, you know, we're all.

Doing the same exact thing. We're all gonna get to from start to the finish. We're all gonna greet each other at the end. It's kind of neat. I think it's just a, that's like our vibe. There's no other vibe like that. I haven't really felt it that way in anywhere, anywhere else. So what are your, [00:18:00] okay, so you're in like Greater Orlando area.

Somebody's coming in, traveling, or maybe you live there. What are Lovelands three within? Eh, like about an hour drive, your top three places to run and why? Oh, top three. Okay. So I recently it, okay, I guess it recently I just ran the w Kiva, uh, Springs, uh, trail. Some people may not even realize that they're, you can run probably a 50 miler in here, in the w Kiva Park State Park in, in explore.

Just different areas. Um, but there's just so many like unique kind of like, uh, terrain. So you have the sand. You know, and then you have the, this like covered with just those king pro uh, pom ponds, you know, like just you're just covered with it. Tall grass and then you get really muddy in there too. Um, it's just different terrain.

It's hot and then you see all just, just pine trees or tons of tall trees [00:19:00] around. It just brings you into a different, um, Um, like just terrain. So I love that one. That's gonna be part of my top three. It's not my number one. Um, but number two would have to be, um, right now is three lakes. Uh, I just ran there last week, um, again.

Wow. When you are standing in the, just looking up, you have to look up, you have to stop. That's the one thing that I love about trail running in general. Not necessarily, you know, comparing to road running, right, trail running. You get to stop and walk, you know, where it's like if you're trading for a marathon or you're running a marathon or something, it's like you have to go fast, as fast as you can.

Uh, where trail running, you know, you can run or you can hike or you know, you can stop and look around once in, in the area, uh, and in three legs. Oh gosh, man. I'm not, I'm not sure if you have been, been there before, but again, just the different terrain, scenery, it's the real Florida. Um, you have those tall, tall, like sable palms, tall trees, oak [00:20:00] trees, very old, old oak trees that are like mo wrapped with like moss and, uh, I mean, you, you can't miss it and you can't, you just have to sit there for a second and just like, wow, this is amazing.

This has been here for a long time and I get to experience it. Um, so that would be probably my, my number one. And then, uh, my number two, it has to be in a chili area where you have your race there for the forgotten Florida. Uh, again, kind of have that same feeling. The old Florida, even though when it's like muddy or whatever it is, you still feel like you're just in a different place.

You know, you're not in the middle of the, you're not in the middle of Disney, you're not at the beach. It's just. Um, just trees all around you taller, way, way taller than you. Um, so, and green, you know, it's just, it's just one of the most amazing places. I love running your, you know, like Sky Summit, Georgia races, you know, the Highlands.

That was really cool. Um, but I [00:21:00] still love running Florida. Like it's just the, it's just we, I can't get enough of it. And, um, and I love the mountains, so don't get me wrong, but Florida is just have those. The green and trees and just the, that feeling that you get, that things are just so old and been growing for a very long time and you're just, you're just in it.

Yes. To all of that. Yes, absolutely. I, I'll, uh, I want to talk about all three of those places cuz I love the heck outta all of them. Um, let's see, you just mentioned like juta, that area, um, you know, Charles Bront and Little big Econ. I mean, it's, it's amazing. It's, it, yeah. You know, obviously the Forgotten Florida course, uh, I fell in love with that area.

Um, like I did a lot of training for the Florida Trail in all three of the areas you mentioned. Um, a lot like toe. I would go out there. Yeah. Same with wva. Um, and, [00:22:00] uh, three Lakes. Prairie Lakes. I went out there and would just go out for 10 hours and literally just walk. Yeah. And I would come back to my car and then go back out on a different road or a different trail.

Um, like I'll just. Well, Kiva is kind of cool cuz they've got springs. Right. You know, so I saw you the other day. It's like, yeah, you can go for a run and then come back and then jump in the springs. So that's really cool. Yeah. Um, and you don't see that many people out on the trails either. Yeah. Um, which is pretty interesting for, uh, no, and that's why you asked me like,

like what my top three is. Like it just because it's just so, um, Low, low foot traffic, like, and even in three lakes the same way. It's like very low traffic there. So I just want people to see that, that, that, that exists here in Florida, in central Florida, you know, you don't have to go that far. So if you're here in Orlando and you're visiting Disney or the beach, hit [00:23:00] us up.

We'll, we'll provide you with some recommendation of where to go. Absolutely. I gotta tell you before we move on to the next scene. My first ever experience on getting on the Florida Trail and really just not any trail, but on the Florida Trail specifically. Um, period. I went to three Lakes, Prairie Lakes area, and I did that, um, like 11 mile loop.

Um. Mm-hmm. I actually, I only did the inner loop, so I only did like, it was like six, seven miles. I was like, oh, I just wanna go check this out. And all the things we were talking about before this, like, I'm freaked out about snakes, bears, boars, you know, I'm in the, I'm alone by myself. It's middle of the week.

The girl I was dating lived in, uh, uh, uh, In Tampa, greater Tampa. So I drive like an hour and a half over there, hour 45 and I'm like, this looks cool. Like based on what the internet says, you know, uh, another great resource while I'm saying this cuz this is where I found this, is there's a website called [00:24:00] Florida Hikes.

Um, yes. And it is awesome. Uh, Sandra and I forget her husband's name. Uh, But they do an awesome job. They're hikers, they go all over the state of Florida and they do very detailed, um, you know, web pages on all these places you can go videos. It's really, really cool. Highly recommend. But that's where I found it and I was like, oh, I gotta go check this out.

So I go down there and I'm like, not even a quarter mile in, and I'm kind of like running on eggshells. I'm kind of like, you know, just all, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. And all of a sudden loving, I swear this still the day is probably the scariest thing that's ever happened to me. Like in the instant on a trail, it was like, Boom.

There was this big crash and it, it was an explosion. I, it, it echoed in my chest cavity. I fell backwards. It scared the everliving crap out of me. And I was like, oh my God, what was that? And what, it was a bald eagle that was like, had a nest or was like hanging out in the, the palm above me. [00:25:00] And it, it. Down, like on, its like down thrust to get away.

It literally broke all the branches and its feathers, like it's down, went everywhere. And I'm laying on my back this thing screaming like bloody murder flying away. And as the sun, then it was like some weird like mythical kind of experience it and it was like the. It's down feathers. These white feathers are slowly falling like snow as the sun is permeating the canopy.

And it was like one of the most beautiful things. And I, I swear I put my hand out and caught one of the feathers and I was like, what does it mean? This is crazy. So, um, of course I got back up and just kept running and was like, wow, I had no idea there was bald eagles and that this was like, I. Seven, eight years ago and I just absolutely fell in love with that.

And [00:26:00] our original Wild Florida 120 mile race went right through there on the Florida Trail. So like I know I love that area. I've done some work days. It's awesome.

So my next question for you is, okay, so you're from the Philippines. How do you get from the Philippines to Orlando? Um, so yes, Philippines is my, where I was born. Um, and I came here when I was 12 years old. Um, my parent, my mom and my dad lived here, and so they moved us here. I have, you know, three other siblings with me.

I'm the youngest of four girls. Um, so we, we moved here from, you know, pretty much migrated here in the Philippines, uh, from the Philippines. So as anyone would say, Trying to be a be to have better life here. My par, my mom wanted to have a better life for us, so she picked us all up and brought us here. So she worked really hard to get all four, four [00:27:00] girls here.

It's not easy to get four girls, um, from the Philippines to here in the United States. I never lived anywhere else. It's, um, Orlando, um, or I would say the Seminole County area is the only place I've ever lived. Um, so it's from Manila, Philippines to Orlando. Yeah. So, yeah, and you know, just thinking about that, back in the, when I was younger, I think I was born to be a, a frail runner or a whatever because I, I just remember when I was young, the Philippines, you know, it's pretty, it's mountains there.

A lot of. And I would be early in the morning, the sun comes up, I'm out running away from my sisters and I'm already playing, playing out in the mountains and woods. And then I wouldn't come back until it's nighttime. It's time for dinner. So I think that's always been in my, my blood. So what was that like?

That's such a drastic life change. Like was it kind of one [00:28:00] day all of a sudden, hey, we're going to America and you know, were you sad about it? Like do like, was that a good thing? Yeah, no, it was, um, you know, being, being 12 years old, um, to be told that, Hey, we're going to uproot you and everything that, you know in the Philippines, right.

And move you to something that I only, I've only seen it in movies, Disney movies specifically. Like, I only know what America was like. We didn't have TV growing up. Um, so I, I don't know much all about the America. I read about it in the books. Right. We read, um, we read some things in our, like in our school about America and the history, but mostly it's about our history in the Philippines.

So, um, you know, being a 12 year old, and I don't know if you remember when you were a 12 year old, you don't really, you don't really know, care about your, like, what's my life it's going to be, right? Like, you just care about, like, I'm gonna play outside with my friends, you know, I'm gonna go hang [00:29:00] out out there, ride my bike, or whatever.

Um, and then suddenly my mom came, you know, she actually, um, left when I was a baby because she wanted to have a better life for her children. And so she, you know, since I was a baby, I, I didn't even know I had a mom until when I saw her when I was 12 years old. So she came in into our lives and said, Hey, I, you know, all this time I've been working really hard so that I can give you guys a better life.

In the United States. So she's, she's my hero. I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for my mom. And she knows that. I tell her that. I told her that many, many times, like, and she doesn't believe me, right? But, um, but she worked really hard and 12 years old, I came in and she's like, okay, one night, um, let's fly you out.

Um, when I got here in America, it took us about 48 hours to fly in. And, um, I, it was a total culture shock. I mean, not knowing how to speak English. [00:30:00] Um, there's slang that I don't know about, um, food that I've never eaten in my life before. Um, even being in a car, like I've, we, we didn't have a car in the Philipp being so, having.

Air condition, like AC was a big deal. Uh, I, you know, I remember the Philippines, when we buy ice cream, we have to eat all of it. Oh. Cause you know, I have a refrigerator, so we had to eat all of it cuz everything's gonna melt. And, um, and then having a refrigerator, having my own bed. It was, uh, it was, it's a really huge culture shock.

Um, you know, like we came here in August of 1992 and then that was. Two weeks after that, we had to go into middle school, right? August is usually when the school starts. Um, two weeks into that, I had to go into middle school. Sixth grade didn't speak English. I cried my balls out. I mean, like, I didn't wanna go to school.

Um, two years later we didn't, you know, in middle [00:31:00] school, after watching cartoons and soap opera on TV with my parents, I learned how to speak English. I learned the culture of America from that. Um, and I, you know, I, I started taking regular English classes. I was in an E S O L class for two years and learned how to speak, um, English and, and then that was it.

That was the, that was it. I knew, I knew if I wanted to stay here in America, I knew that moving in here, I had to learn. What it was like to live in America. And I think that's always been part of me. Like it's always been, uh, my tactic when it comes to learning new things. Even this trail running. If I knew that if I wanted to learn how to trail run, I have to learn, I have to read books, I have to talk to the people that are, you know, are, I've been deep into it already, you know, so I've always been like that.

So yeah, I still speak the language. Um, not as much, but, [00:32:00] um, just because my sisters and I, we don't, we just talk in English and my mom's so much easier. But if some, if I met someone like my friend Billy and Kat, you know, they're part of the, uh, old Town Blazers. Sometimes we'll say words here and there, but it's kind of cool, but yeah.

That's awesome. What a, what a awesome story. Yeah. That's like the American dream right there, you know? It really is. Yeah. Yeah. It really is. So, When, so when you, when did you start running? So, um, my first, um, long distance race was like right before Covid, like 2019. I did the O U c, uh, half marathon. So before that I would attend like the, uh, 10 10 run club.

You know, you, you know that, um, led by bra, Brad Park and Mark. Um, so the tent and one club, I would go there and we would run that three mile loop, you know, the 5K loop and then, um, and sometimes we will run a four [00:33:00] mile or a five mile. It's just depending. And then, you know, I kind of enjoyed. Um, just doing that.

And then somebody said to me, let's run the O U C, which is the half marathon. And we did, and I ran it, um, during Covid time. I remember, oh my gosh. We had to like wear masks at the starting line and be like six feet apart, apart. It was like ground. Stand on. It was so crazy. Um, and that's how I really started running.

Running, like just to enjoy myself was never a thing. Um, it's always maybe like even because I wanted to lose weight or maybe shed, you know, pounds here and there. So I would run, but never really to, just for enjoyment, you know? Um, really was the community at 10 10, like they showed me like, running could be fun without being so competitive and being like, we're just here.

We're just running together. Um, socially and learning about one another. Um, that's really how I started running. I am, I kind of ramped up on my, [00:34:00] you know, 5K to 100 or 5K to 200. You know, it's, it's not the normal route for most people, but because I enjoy it so much, um, it's just what I do. It's just what I like to do now.

So I would say, 2019 really is when I started running socially. And then 2020 is when I really started doing the whole trail ultra running. There's a dog here that's cheap. That's cheap. Gotta have dogs. That's awesome. So what. So to date, what would you say? Cause I know you do a lot of very, um, hard events.

Um, now. Wow. I don't know if you can hear the thunder in the background, but Mine too. Yeah. Um, welcome to the Southern Summer, right. Um, what, what is like, are some of the hardest events that you've, you've done or you think that like you had to dig the deepest to, uh, to get like a finish? Because I see a lot of races, you're just like, sometimes it seems like you're in that, that [00:35:00] pain cave and you're digging deep and you got all your friends with you and you're just going, yeah.

I would have to say when I did the, uh, across Florida 200, that's when I really had to. Dig deep because it was a solo race, right? It's not like I'm running with 50 other people. This is on my own, on my own head and it's, everything is planned. And you know, when you're worrying about like aid stations and what food are you going to eat, and then while you still have to run and perform, I mean it's, there's a lot.

That's a lot going on where if you're doing, like, if I'm doing your race, like the Forgotten Florida, like I know that there's 15 aid station, right? So I can prepare myself and, and kind of makes it life easier for me. And then all I have to do is literally put one foot in front of the other, um, for the, the across Florida 200.

That was such a, that was hard. I mean, I, I, you know, I did a hundred miles and then I went to 200 miles, like. [00:36:00] You know, and, and in, in one year, I, you know, in, in six months I did, you forgotten Florida, I did the keys 100 and then the, across Florida 200. So it's, it's kind of nuts for me. But that one I had to really dig deep because it was such a long, I mean, it was 76 hours total.

I mean, I was really tired. My body was achy, but. You know, just knowing the fact that I would be the first woman to complete that, and then of course being in an Asian American woman to complete that even just added more to me that like, I really wanted to, I needed to dig deep and get it done. And the great thing is I had an amazing crew with me to help me accomplish that goal.

So yeah, that was, that was probably been the hardest so far. Yeah. I, I, I mean, I, I can't imagine, but I've not been there. You can, you can. That's awesome. Yeah. I mean, there's just something beautiful. Um, you know, we like, I like how you, you [00:37:00] touched on that's, that's a really interesting perspective and it's so true.

And not a lot of people get that experience of doing, you know, a hundred miles or 200 or just a very long distance. Whatever you're comfortable with, very. Lot longer than you're normally used to. Um, but when there's not really anybody else around you. Um, I, I think I actually, I don't know, I'm kind of jaded on races now.

I almost like prefer to do stuff like that. Yeah. It's like, I just wish I had buddies that'd be like, Hey man, we'll just like come crew you, you know, like, you know, once a month and we can just go do some wild adventures. Um, I'd love to see, I'll tell you one thing, you know, not to. Push you one, sway you one way or another.

I'd love to see like something like that you guys do. Just like a, I know we call 'em fat asses back in the day. It's like, you know, it's a free event and I don't know why they call it that, but that's what they call it. Um, and basically people show up with like a little bit of food for them and then enough for other people and maybe just do like a, you know, uh, uh, o.

O town blazer kind of like [00:38:00] 50 K, like people's, like first 50. Like that would be really cool. Yeah. Um, and it just like no frills, just like, Hey guys, show up. Maybe we do these six mile loop. I don't know. Just something, uh, I, it is just, it is, there's no pressure. Right. It's kind of cool. It's like, yeah. Yeah.

No, I like that idea a lot, Sean. I think, uh, we've been, we've been to toying around about, you know, some, like challenges that we wanna give our, our, our, some of our newer runners to, you know, like kind of showing them that they can do it, you know, it's possible. With people around you, they're helping you.

It's possible because you can't really do a hundred miles solo. I mean, you can. No, but it's not as fun. You know? It's not as fun. You can do 5K on your own, but none, no, I, I, I, I agree with that, and I like, I've had friends that do that, and I think they're absolutely crazy and mad respect for that. But that's not my, uh, my cup of tea now.

Now, your profession, you're a professor. No, no. A lot of people think that because I work in college, [00:39:00] but I work at the, uh, Rollins College. So it's in, in Winter Park. If you're in central Florida, it's in Winter Park, park Avenue. And you're very, very popular when it comes to tourists because it's just like, you know, nice restaurants here and there, beautiful campus.

Um, so I work in the, as their, uh, director of their alumni relations office. So I work. Really I a full-time job. So, and, uh, so I work with our, all of our alumni in the, uh, CU Graduate School of Business, which is our MBA program at Rollins College. So my, my sole job is to engage with our alum, which is really fun.

Um, yeah, that's what I do. I, I, I'm hoping to be a professor someday. I'm working on that. That's something that I'm working on, um, to teach. That's kind of like my second, you know, interest or passion maybe, is to teach. So, yes. Hopefully one of these days you can call me Professor Loveland. I love it. I love it.

I love it. Okay, so a couple last things before we wrap up. Um, maybe a [00:40:00] couple tips that you have for everybody's asking me right now for how do I run in the heat, you know, and my, my answer is always go be in the heat. What, what do you got? Um, so as for Florida runners, and if you wanna, you know, some tips on running the heat.

Oh my gosh. So like you said, Sean, just go out there, um, run in the middle of the day, you know, like 12 o'clock in the afternoon. I know most people, they wake up in the morning really early in the morning or. They go at night when, you know, get off at work. But when I training for, um, the Keys 100, um, run in the middle of the day, that's the hottest part of the day, run at two o'clock in the afternoon because when you're doing a hundred miles in the heat, It's not like you can skip 2:00 PM or 12:00 PM you know, you gotta be out there and those are the times that you don't usually run.

Um, so I would say immerse yourself on that, [00:41:00] um, and the heat, and then also try out some food during that time. What are you eating during that time? Because man, when my, when it's hot outside, I don't not wanna eat anything solid. I want something cold, usually ice. And, um, so I would say try to eat, because again, when you're running that 100 mile, you're gonna have to eat during that 12 o'clock or that, you know, two o'clock hour or four, four o'clock hour.

If you're in Florida, it's still gonna be really hot. So that's my advice for someone that wants to run something hot, which I don't normally do. Usually I will avoid as much as possible to run a, a hot race, but you know. It's a challenge. It's one of those good ones. I'm the same. I'm not a, I'm not a fan of running in the heat.

That's the day walking ginger in me does not like hot weather. Uh, what about, what about a couple, uh, what kind of tips you got for, uh, women that want to get into trail [00:42:00] running from road running, maybe haven't, uh, or wanna step up and distance, um, you know, to that unknown distance for them? Sure. Um, you know, just as a female runner or even, you know, just a runner in general, but female, if you're, you're listening to this right now, um, I think my advice to you, if you really wanna move into the, actually just trail running, um, and then I'll talk about maybe doing the ultra distance, um, trail running.

Just, just come out and try and. Um, and be easy on yourself. Like it's not something natural that we do. Um, maybe just go for a hike even on the start, and then do a couple of jog, you know, section when you feel like you can, um, to make you feel a little bit comfortable. Um, but even just to go on a hike.

Some people are not comfortable hiking by themselves. Trust me, because I have friends who has asked me, Lovelin, I wanna go hiking, but can you come with me? Because you know the trails around So, Even [00:43:00] just that, um, just come out and then of course, you know, if you don't feel comfortable, you know, come to Oldtown post something on our page and say, Hey, I wanna try it out.

Um, so that would be something that would just be easy on yourself. Give yourself some grace. You don't have to do zero to 60. Just start slow. And then for, if you wanna go ahead and ramp up on those distances, I think. This is, works out for me, Shawn. I'm not gonna say it will work out for everybody else.

Um, but what has worked out for me is that you have to listen to your body. You don't have to really stick to a really regimen, like s get stay in the box kind of plan. Like some people get into this like plan, like I'm gonna do this every week. Um, you know, be, listen to your body if you feel like you need mobility that week, more.

Do mobility that week. If you need more strength training that week, do strength training that week. If you need to do longer run because you feel like you haven't run in so long, go do [00:44:00] that. Because I mean, I think that's how I've stayed away from, not from being injured at all, like I have been injured free since beginning of time.

And I think you just have to listen to your body and don't get so focused on that training plan, which is most people, they get stuck to that. Yeah. Amen to that. That's like we, I haven't talked about that yet, but a lot of people, I, it's almost like from a road running like standpoint, I feel like people are always like, you know, what mileage do I need to be doing?

What? Uh oh,

whoa. I didn't think I would ever get to say this, but we just experienced some technical difficulties. And by that I mean there was a crazy lightning and thunder thunderstorm, uh, that cut the power at and the internet at my parents' house, uh, as well as Loveland was in. The same thing down in Florida. So kind of funny, but what a great interview.

Loveland. Thank you [00:45:00] for being on. That was a great talk. Can't wait to do that Again. Just wanna say thank you for being who you are, being an inspiration, uh, changing people's lives through o town blazers, uh, encouraging women. Just, it's just so awesome what she's doing. So thank you and, uh, look forward to speaking.

With her again, look forward to seeing her at a race or on a run. So she's doing amazing things and we didn't even get into it, but she has a crazy race schedule. She's running, uh, this fall and next year swinging for the fences, a hundred mile races, Georgia Death, race, all sorts of craziness. So best of luck to you girl.

And for those of you guys who listen to podcasts, we're going to pump out these, uh, podcasts all summer long. I love this. Um, being the former host of the East Coast Trail Ultra Runners Podcast, I love that we did over a hundred episodes of that, and so I've missed that. It's nice to just be me, uh, and talking with one person at a time.

I absolutely love that. Trying to get to know people, what makes them tick. Why they run and [00:46:00] maybe some, some tips and tricks for us, those of us who are trying to become better people and better runners. So thank you again for listening. Uh, check it out right now. Yes, I put on races, and it's a shameless plug here.

Go check out some of our races if you're down in Florida. We've got the Wild Florida Trail race in, uh, November, happening in central North Florida. Um, that is, I think November 18th, 50 K, 12 mile or six mile also. In February, we have forgotten Florida, which is a a hundred mile, 50 mile, 15 mile and eight mile.

Those are awesome. Uh, right in Loveland area. Um, so check that out. And just on sale was Cloudland Canyon Trail Race in early December. We also have Scott a summit in October. Both of those are almost sold, sold out. They're beautiful, beautiful races. Scott is Summit, this is year 11, I think Cloudland, this is year 12, so, or excuse me, year 10.

So much love to everybody. I look forward to seeing you guys, uh, very shortly. [00:47:00] I just ran the NNA or 30 mile race in Canada. I think it was my fourth or fifth time finishing this race. Uh, amazing experience. We'll talk about that in the next podcast. So thank you for listening. And until then my friends, remember get out there and bend, but.