Life coach and author Nicol Hodges is a lifelong runner. The sport she loves has helped her move through challenging times in her life and has given her purpose.
Life coach and author Nicol Hodges is a lifelong runner. In high school and college, running track taught her discipline and training techniques. As an adult, running has improved Nicol’s mental health and helped her move through challenging seasons. Now, Nicol is running for justice. After Black healthcare worker Breonna Taylor was murdered by Louisville police in 2020, Nicol printed out a race bib with Breonna’s name on it and wore it during her daily runs. This act of remembrance has turned into a movement.
Connect with Nicol:
Resources:
Nicol Hodges: As I became older, you learn about those words like anxiety. You learn about things that can motivate you to get up in the morning. I had a little depression here and there over the years. I noticed that when I would run, I would be fine. I love reading about the mind, body and spirit. And I love reading about people who accelerate in the field they're in and they always have this one thing that they do every day that gets them up in the morning and gets them going. For me that's running.
Shelby Stanger: Some of us go running to breathe fresh air and get our hearts pumping. Some of us use running as a way to connect. Maybe it's with a run club or just your best running buddy. Some of us run because we like to compete in races and to push ourselves. And sometimes we sign up for 5Ks or marathons to fundraise for a cause. Life coach and author Nicol Hodges has run for many of these reasons, but now she's running for the most important cause yet. After Black healthcare worker, Breonna Taylor was murdered by Louisville Police in 2020, Nicol co-founded the group Unity Runners, formerly known as Run for Breonna. It started simply. Nicol printed out a race bib with Breonna's name on it and she wore it during her daily runs. This act of remembrance has turned into a full-blown movement. I'm Shelby Sanger, and this is Wild Ideas Worth Living.
Shelby Stanger: The movement to see justice for Breonna Taylor began nearly two years ago and Nicol's one of many community leaders who have advocated to keep her name alive. Before she co-found Unity Runners, Nicol was a lifelong competitive athlete. In high school and college, running track taught her discipline and training techniques. And as an adult, running has improved Nicol's mental health and helped her move through challenging seasons. But no matter where she's running or what distance, it's a tool she's always had in her belt.
Shelby Stanger: All right. I have Nicol Hodges.
Nicol Hodges: Hey.
Shelby Stanger: In my house. Welcome to Wild Ideas Worth Living.
Nicol Hodges: Yes. Thank you for having me.
Shelby Stanger: I'm just excited to do an in-person interview.
Nicol Hodges: Yes.
Shelby Stanger: So one of the things I read about you is you've been a really accomplished runner for 35 years now.
Nicol Hodges: Yeah.
Shelby Stanger: How did you discover running and how did fall in love with it?
Nicol Hodges: Well, when I was a little kid, my mom was like, I was running from her all the time, just trying to get into stuff. So that's the first thing, but I really fell into running, I would say around the age of 14, 15 years old. We had track and field day at my middle school. And I did, I think the 100 and the triple jump and the high jump and I was winning everything. And you know, that feeds your ego. So I'm like, okay, I need more of this.
Shelby Stanger: As a little kid.
Nicol Hodges: As a little kid. And as soon as high school hit, I joined the track team and it was pretty much over by then. So I was hooked.
Shelby Stanger: And you were winning in high school instantly.
Nicol Hodges: I was one of the top runners in Missouri, became one of the top 400 meter runners, got recruited for that and got a scholarship to the University of Missouri. Go Missou. And I ran for them for four and a half years.
Shelby Stanger: Can I ask you what your 400 time was?
Nicol Hodges: My best 400 time was around mid 52.
Shelby Stanger: Holy cow.
Nicol Hodges: So I was right underneath the ones who were making it to the Olympics-
Shelby Stanger: That's an Olympic qualifier.
Nicol Hodges: Yeah.
Shelby Stanger: It's really interesting. My nephew is now into running and he's five. And he just wants to race. So we took him to do it a kids' Turkey Trot, and he'd never run anything besides a 50 yard sprint.
Nicol Hodges: Yeah.
Shelby Stanger: And this race was a mile and a half. So he was so excited. He was eating bananas because I told him bananas made him faster. We got the starting line, he runs. 50 yards later, he's like, "Auntie Shelby, will you carry me?" I was like, "Dude, you better keep running."
Nicol Hodges: That kid's normal actually.
Shelby Stanger: So how did you learn to train yourself and keep going and not just die after 50 yards? He's only five.
Nicol Hodges: When you're 14, 15 years old, think about it. You're just doing, you're eating everything. You can do everything. There is no no in your head. So you just keep going. So for me it was just, I just have stored up energy. I'm still the same way. You're probably going to see me jumping up and down here in this chair, but I just did it. And then of course, you get your coach and you train. And I have issues sticking to a training plan.
Shelby Stanger: Me, too.
Nicol Hodges: But yeah, I don't want to say that I'm ADD, I don't think I'm that, but I'm just, I just have a lot of high energy and that's what really got me through a lot of my races.
Shelby Stanger: So I like what you said that when you're 14, 15, you don't know no.
Nicol Hodges: Right.
Shelby Stanger: But you've kept going. So how have you shush the noes?
Nicol Hodges: You mean now?
Shelby Stanger: Yeah.
Nicol Hodges: I'm still running. For me, it's like breathing at this point. And as I became older, you learn about those words like anxiety. You learn about things that can motivate you to get up in the morning. I had a little depression here and there over the years. And then I noticed that when I would run, I would be fine and it would just get me through the day. I love reading about the mind, body, and spirit. And I love reading about people who accelerate in the field they're in, and they always have this one thing that they do every day that gets them up in the morning and gets them going. And for me, that's running. When I don't run, I took six days on off, my body was telling me, you need to take six days off or I'm not going to function for you. And so I listen to my body. I'm very in tune with what's going on inside and out. And so I just listen to it. And then when I'm ready to get back out there, I get back out there. So as long as I'm in tune with my body and I listen to it, I can keep going.
Shelby Stanger: So yeah, I've dealt with a little depression here and there, and I've always found that running has been for me, amazing at being an antidepressant. It just feels good. Sometimes I've used that in place of all sorts of things. And it's been slightly destructive for me. I don't know about you, but I am interested in this mind, body, spirit connection. What does that mean for you? And I know now you coach other women on that. How do you help people first listen to their body?
Nicol Hodges: I was a personal trainer for years when my daughters were little. I think they were like five and eight or something like that. And I would train primarily women. And I noticed that I could have them lifting weights all day long. I could have them jumping up and down and doing cartwheels if I wanted to. But if their mind and their spirit weren't in the right place, we weren't getting anywhere. They would hit a plateau. They would come in complaining, and I'm a happy person generally and so it was really hard for me to figure out what's going on with these women. And so I started talking to them a little bit more past the body. So while they were working out, I would, and a good trainer does this like, how's your day going? What's going on?
Nicol Hodges: But when I would hear the same thing over and over, it could be their kid or their marriage or relationship or their job, I would have them focus on that. And then I would give them suggestions. And they'd be very light suggestions, because I'm not a therapist, but I might say, "Hey, what do you think about doing this instead of that?" And you can see something just click in their head, like I never thought about that. Because I'm an outside person looking in. And they would make those small little changes and then they'd come in the next week and they'd be rocking, rolling and ready to go. And their whole attitude changed.
Nicol Hodges: I'm very in tune with people's spirits. Like when I met you and I talked to you, I could just tell there was this amazing energy. You can tell when there's something not right in someone's life. Because I've been there. So when we talk about what's going on, in their life and what's going on in their mind, I always like that cognitive therapy where you replace a bad thing with a good thing. Even if you don't believe it, just say it to yourself. And you start believing it because you're believing the bad stuff that's coming in your head. So why not believe the good stuff? And it just starts speeding their spirit. And then you start changing their workout to the things that they like to do. So okay, yeah, they're lifting weights, but what can we do other than lift weights that you like to do? Is it gardening? Is it dancing? Is it riding your bike? Okay, we're going to incorporate that in your workout.
Nicol Hodges: And then once you start getting those three things going, you just see a shift in a person, you see a change and anyone can do it, but you have to be willing to do it. You have to hear what your body and your mind and your spirit telling you and you have to follow it. And you have to be ready.
Shelby Stanger: Consistency is hard.
Nicol Hodges: It is very hard.
Shelby Stanger: I'm really curious about the thought thing. So I had on this Holocaust survivor who's, I think she's 93 now, Dr. Edith Eger, she's so cool. But she says, "Thoughts are like food."
Nicol Hodges: It really is.
Shelby Stanger: So what's an example of a thought that someone would say to you, and then you're like, "Shift it to this," and how can we switch it? Because I think I really suffer from it. I have a lot of negative thoughts that come in.
Nicol Hodges: I was just talking with someone. And so she was saying, "I know that I'm all these good things over here, but then I feel like this over there. And so I just feel like, and it makes me feel sad and frustrated." And I'm like, "Well, let's focus on the stuff that you know that you're good at. You're experienced. You're smart. You're unique, which you think is a negative. It's actually a positive." And then we just start naming all these things. And I said, "If you can focus on those things, make them your mantra and keep telling those things to yourself."
Nicol Hodges: This morning, I felt like crap this morning where I was trying to run those two and a half miles, but I kept telling myself, "You're strong, you're athletic and you can do it." And I just said that over and over in my head and my pace started picking up a little bit. My breathing was coming together and I finished that two and a half miles, which I was hoping was four, but I finish at two and a half miles feeling really, really good. Because when your mind hears your mouth telling you this, it's going to start listening to it. When you wake up in the morning, most of us have how many negative thoughts in our head as soon as we wake up in the morning.
Nicol Hodges: Before we put our foot on the ground.
Shelby Stanger: Debbie Downer sometimes when I wake up.
Shelby Stanger: Exactly.
Nicol Hodges: It's awful.
Shelby Stanger: Exactly.
Nicol Hodges: And you literally have to say, "Stop. Shelby, stop. This is what we're going to focus on today." And you have to keep your mind on that.
Shelby Stanger: Focusing on kind and supportive thoughts can make a huge difference in how we feel and perform. It's no surprise that many professional athletes and regular people work on improving their mindset. As Nicol learned more about the mind, body, spirit connection and applied it to her own training, she started to perform better. This powerful practice inspired her to create a fitness program alongside her day job in product design and licensing. The program is called Rise Sessions, with classes focused on improving both our physical and emotional wellbeing.
Shelby Stanger: I've read you've created these Rise Sessions because of your two daughters. How old are they again?
Nicol Hodges: 23 and 19.
Shelby Stanger: 23 and 19.
Nicol Hodges: And one of them is a professional runner.
Shelby Stanger: A professional runner. What does that mean?
Nicol Hodges: She runs for Brooks and she runs 800 meters. She's one of the top runners in the country. Yeah, she's doing really good. And she's going into her second professional season.
Shelby Stanger: Wow.
Nicol Hodges: Yeah.
Shelby Stanger: That's amazing. And then the younger daughter is at?
Nicol Hodges: The younger daughter is about to go to Yale. She's going to be a soccer player. So we're really excited for her.
Shelby Stanger: Wow. What a boss.
Nicol Hodges: Yeah. She is a boss. They're both bosses. And my goal for them was, once I saw their interest in their sports and in their academics, I wanted to make sure that I was there for them to hone in on those two things. And if there was any shift in their attitude with either sport, then I would help them shift and find what it was they were looking for. I remember my youngest one, actually, she was the one who helped me get into this whole thing because the parents would be sitting out there and they'd be talking about how, "We're just sitting here. We should be working out."
Nicol Hodges: And she's like, "My mom's a personal trainer. She can do the bootcamp." And they started paying me to do the bootcamp and I got really interested in people's wellbeing and it really started on the soccer field.
Shelby Stanger: Okay. So you were the bootcamp. That's great that soccer moms would hire you to-
Nicol Hodges: It was soccer moms and dads. It was a good 10 of us out there. And we would work out two times a week and they'd pay me a little something on the side. I didn't really care if they did or didn't and we just totally enjoyed it. And then I'd build a program at our local church with two other personal trainers. And then that's really where the body, mind, and spirit started because we would have huge groups of people come in, 20, 30 people. And you'd always have these side conversations. And when you're sitting there talking and getting people's mind working in a way that they never thought it could work before, it may not happen the next day. But every time I'd see them two or three years later and they're this completely different person, like, "Well, we had that conversation a year ago." And I'm like, "Really?"
Shelby Stanger: I knew you recently wrote a book, Time to Rise, Get Fit and Stay There. How did you come up with the name?
Nicol Hodges: Oh, that's a good question. It probably just came to me, really. I just want people to get fit and I want them to stay there and people are always telling me it's not possible and it is possible.
Shelby Stanger: So tell me a little more about the premise of this book, Time to Rise.
Nicol Hodges: Yeah. So I was doing presentations for the church for health and wellness things. And so I start talking to women about it and what was happening was after I get the stage, they come over and they ask me all these questions, because they had little kids and they're like, "How are you doing all this? And you've got two girls." And so I would explain to them how I would organize my day and I would make sure that it, what we call self-care today, but just making sure I took care of myself first, before I could take care of them. And they were just really intrigued. And so then when I would go into doing the personal training, it's the same thing. The biggest thing that women were having was just other stresses in their life and how to balance their work life and family.
Nicol Hodges: And so I just found ways to help them do that. We would talk it out. I would give them ideas on when they could and should work out. And then I went through a divorce, and I always say I had about a breakdown, but I had a breakdown and all the tools that I use on everybody else just wasn't working for me that day. And I was in fetal position for two days, couldn't move. I don't know how I got my kids to school. I don't know how anything happened. And in my head I kept telling myself, you got to get up from here. You got to get up from here. And when you get up from here, you got to start using your tools again. And when you use those tools and you get back 100%, you're going to start channel those tools with people who have gone through what you've gone through.
Shelby Stanger: I appreciate that you talked about the darkness, two days in fetal position. I think a lot of us have been there.
Nicol Hodges: Yeah. That's the first time I've actually said it publicly.
Shelby Stanger: Well, thanks for sharing with me. Just so you know, I've been in fetal position a lot.
Nicol Hodges: Well I have too, but not that dark.
Shelby Stanger: That's hard. Dark is hard. Divorce is hard. It's not something a lot of people talk about, and I like what you said. You said you told yourself to get up every day. What other tools got you out of that?
Nicol Hodges: Well, I could see what was happening first of all. It wasn't really my choice to go through what I went through. But just like I was saying about the body, mind and spirit, sometimes something has to break down to wake you up. And I had to be broken all the way down for me to realize, okay, this is what's going on. You're going to have to work through this on your own, be humble and ask for help. And if you really want to stand on your own two feet, you're going to have to get your ass up and get going. And so I reached out to, I would say five people that I really trust. And I was like, half of it, I did it in tears. They had no idea what I was talking about and anger, but they helped me through it.
Nicol Hodges: And to this day, I still depend on those five people when something's off. And so I went to therapy like a lot of people do. And the therapy, I got so far with it. And then she suggested maybe you should do life coaching. So I was like, okay. So I do life coaching. And so life coach is doing her life coach thing with me and I had all the tools that she had.
Shelby Stanger: I know, I was like, I can see you being like, "Dude, I can do your job."
Nicol Hodges: And basically I think it was the second session. She's like, "I think you should come. So my certification class and get certified."
Shelby Stanger: Wow.
Nicol Hodges: And so I'm like, "Okay." And so we had to do these presentations on how we would set up our business and what it would be based off of. And I remember just sitting, like, I have no idea what I'm going to do for this presentation. And so I'd say by the third course, I got home and I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but if something comes to your head, you got to get it out. And it was called the Full 400 because I used to run a 400 in college and everything is full circle in life.
Shelby Stanger: Oh, love this.
Nicol Hodges: And so everything was just like-
Shelby Stanger: Full 400.
Nicol Hodges: Yeah. And everything was just coming together. And I was sitting up one night and I was just writing. And all my really close friends know, once my brain is going, you're not going to stop me. So I was just writing, writing, writing, writing, writing, and it all just came together. And so I was like, oh, I could do a book. And then, you know, you Google stuff when you wanted to figure out what to do, at least to get started. And so I found a template and I started, I'm in the creative field outside of running. And I'm like, I can use everything in my toolbox to get this thing going. And I just started writing and I started drawing and I started organizing things and I had a whole wall of Post-Its and pictures and whatever. And I just started putting it together.
Nicol Hodges: And pandemic hit in March of 2020. I had been working on it off and on. And then after work every night, I'd just get into it and start working it again. I think I launched it April or May of 2020, and I launched it on Amazon Books. And the reaction was amazing.
Shelby Stanger: Nicol's drive and dedication inspires the heck out of me. It became clear as Nicol move forward with Rise, that she was on the right path. Things were falling into place for her. What happened next added enough other important piece to the puzzle. When we come back, Nicol talks about running for racial justice, starting a movement, and how you can get involved.
Shelby Stanger: Between her day job, writing a book at night and being a mom, you'd think Nicol would be too tired to add anything else to her plate. But when Breonna Taylor was murdered in the spring of 2020, Nicol knew she had to do something. If you don't know Breonna's story, it's initial absence for media coverage is part of what makes it so upsetting. The first time Nicol ran for Breonna, she was on her own, but she quickly found a community that wanted to help give a voice to Black women across America.
Shelby Stanger: So not only did you write this book during the pandemic, but you also started a movement.
Nicol Hodges: Yeah. The book was ongoing, so the book was ongoing well before the pandemic and then just publishing it to the site was what was the work I had to do. So that wasn't very hard. And then yes. So March, 2020 was the pandemic when everybody had to go home and everything shut down. And then we heard about George Floyd. And well, we didn't hear about it. We actually saw it, which was devastating for millions of people. And then soon after we heard about him, we had heard about Breonna Taylor and how she was killed in her home, I think the day that everybody went home for the pandemic. And nothing was said about it. And she was gunned down in her apartment with, her boyfriend lived through it. And at the time I was on my own. At the time I had my daughter there. At the time, my other daughter was on her own on the East Coast.
Nicol Hodges: And I'm like, what if that would've happened to us? And nothing's going to be said. No one's going to get arrested. And every time I saw the girl's name, Breonna Taylor, it was just devastating for me. And I could relate to Tamika, who's her mother, because I couldn't even imagine losing one of my kids. And I mean, I just can't imagine that. And every Christmas that comes around, every birthday that comes around, it's going to be hard for her. I think her daughters are the same age gap as mine. I don't know Tamika. She doesn't know me, but I just felt like I should be running for Breonna Taylor. So I started with a 30-day challenge. I posted on my Instagram and I just felt really good that I was doing something, because I'm not a big protestor. I'm not big and loud, da, da, da, but I wanted to let people know about her name and who she was. And so I made a little bib and I posted it on IG, and then my church family, who I hadn't seen in five or six years, they decided they wanted to do it because they're still doing fitness stuff over there without me. And so they posted that they were doing it. And then I met a girl, Gina Wickstead down at downtown San Diego. She had a group that was doing it, not mine, but she's doing her own.
Nicol Hodges: And we joined forces and next thing you know, it was growing all over the country. And so we had 25 to 30 other cities involved. And yeah, and it was absolutely incredible. And we would have 200 people come downtown to run with us and it really made a statement. And I think we're coming up on the 700 day soon and she still doesn't have justice, but we're still out there.
Shelby Stanger: Wow. So you created a bib.
Nicol Hodges: A bib, it just said Breonna Taylor on it.
Shelby Stanger: Wow.
Nicol Hodges: And her birthday. We would ask people to come out and they could not come out if they didn't have a mask and they didn't practice social distancing. So we were very adamant about that. And so when we would join in a circle, we would be arm length apart. We'd look out for each other. And then it just started building this community of people that we were always around. But we want to make sure that we're building a world where everyone's voice is heard. Unfortunately, when it comes to Black women and getting murdered by either their spouse or police, you don't hear any thing about it. And it's the same with any woman actually, depending on where they're from and where they're categorized and our social standards are. But mainly Black women, they don't get justice many times. And if you can't hear a Black woman's voice, then you can't hear anyone else's voice.
Nicol Hodges: And so that's our motto for that. So like I told our group, I'm glad everybody's out here and that they support Breonna Taylor, but this is not a sprint. It's going to be a marathon. And at this point it's an ultra marathon.
Shelby Stanger: Good for you.
Nicol Hodges: Yeah.
Shelby Stanger: So I have a question. Can White people run with you guys, too?
Nicol Hodges: You'd be surprised. Unity Runners is mainly White people.
Shelby Stanger: That's what I figured.
Nicol Hodges: But then what happens is we have our Unity Runs, and we have our major runs, but we'll have four this year and that's Black Men's Run comes out of San Diego. Black Girls Run, they come out. And then what was happening during the pandemic, a lot of minority groups were getting together and building running clubs. And what was happening with that was that they making people who don't look like the normal runner come out and run. And so now you have all these amazing people coming together, whatever your ethnicity was, you can come out to these groups and feel comfortable, actually train for a race and be supported in a race where that wasn't happening a hundred percent before. And so that's what was coming out of all these different things. They would see what Unity Runners was doing at the time. It was called Run for Breonna. And then that stirred up Ride for Breonna. And so that's a separate entity where we have all these bike riders.
Shelby Stanger: Cool.
Nicol Hodges: Yeah. And then we do stay in touch with Run for Breonna in Louisville, and that's where it happened, where she passed away. And then we had one in Chicago, in Texas and Hawaii and San Francisco. And so we'll have the big runs and we communicate with them and then do it on their ends.
Shelby Stanger: How did you start other groups? Or did people, did you have guidelines or did people, you're like, okay, all you have to do is.
Nicol Hodges: We were posting on Instagram and I think that's a huge, huge tool for anyone who's trying to grow anything. And we would just hashtag the crap out of Breonna Taylor and people started following us. A lot of things that we got involved in, we directly asked Tamika, her mother, if it was okay, because we didn't want people to think we were using Breonna's name to sell things or to get attention. That wasn't the intention. And so we do get her permission, because we want to honor her name. And so it was funny because last year, me and Gina had a pretty deep conversation about her name. And we wanted to make sure that it wasn't something that was making people popular. It was actually making people start the conversation.
Shelby Stanger: As Nicol says, this movement is a marathon, not a sprint. Unity Runners has been running for Breonna for 700 days and they're not planning on stopping anytime soon. As the group has grown, they've been able to partner with brands as plan events and spread the word.
Shelby Stanger: You've gotten some other brands involved, too.
Nicol Hodges: Yes, we have. We have gotten, HOKA is involved. I think that's really our big one. A lot of people are afraid to touch the whole thing because of the whole social justice. And I really was happy when HOKA reached out, because before all this, even before actually this whole movement, they were already trying to make a voice for Black voices. Because we do go hiking. We do get in the water. We do go running. We do go biking. And of course, they were the first that made a statement, put their foot down. From African Americans to trans, they made a huge statement.
Shelby Stanger: I think it's really cool when brands get behind advocates, making sports bigger.
Nicol Hodges: Yeah.
Shelby Stanger: For all.
Nicol Hodges: And I hope they continue it because I know when I was younger, I tried to get these sponsorships and it was hard for African American women. You just didn't see us. They were not giving us money. And if they were giving us money on behalf of what our White counterparts were making. So I want them to understand that even though we make up 18% of our national population, we are one of the biggest influences around the world. Think about music, think about sports.
Shelby Stanger: Fashion.
Nicol Hodges: Fashion. In the boardrooms, we can make a huge difference. So when you're giving like this, we also need the voices behind it, too. I'm talking Black voices, white voices, red, purple, green. We need those voices out there because we have to work together in order to make a difference. But I grew up in an area in Missouri where it was predominantly white and I was usually the only one in everything. And so I understand-
Shelby Stanger: You're the only Black girl in everything you did.
Nicol Hodges: Just about everything. There was me-
Shelby Stanger: That's not easy.
Nicol Hodges: And one other person.
Shelby Stanger: Were your daughters like that growing up too?
Nicol Hodges: Rancho Bernardo.
Nicol Hodges: Yeah. Less than 5%. But I knew how to navigate through that. And I would explain to them, everyone has a life, everyone goes through something and you have to look at it that way. You're going to face some situations that are going to be uncomfortable, but it's all in how you handle it. And so I understand where the mentality is with a lot of people who say all lives matter. And I understand the mentality of people who say Black lives don't matter. I understand them. And I respect their positioning because that's all that they know. But Black lives do matter.
Shelby Stanger: Yeah. Black lives matter. I agree with you on that one.
Shelby Stanger: Well, I appreciate what you're doing.
Nicol Hodges: Why thank you.
Shelby Stanger: We can support you beyond bringing attention through this podcast. What else can we do?
Nicol Hodges: Just keep having these conversations. I know that you've spoken with a few other Black leaders here in San Diego and and really all over the country.
Shelby Stanger: I appreciate all the advocacy work you do. I think it takes courage. You have to be not afraid.
Nicol Hodges: I'm going to be honest with you. A lot of things I get involved in, I'm very afraid. I get anxiety every time. When we have our big events and I have to do the announcements and the speeches, I have anxiety. And I still have that voice in my head. Just when I was telling you when I broke down and was like, you're going to get up from here. You're going to get up here. I tell myself you're going to get through this. Because it's bigger than me. It's not about me. I just use myself as a vessel. And if I can help someone else, that's what I want to do.
Shelby Stanger: So you've been a runner for a long time. Do you have any advice around longevity? Like eating, sleeping, training?
Nicol Hodges: The sleeping right now is an issue only because I'm older. So I try to just eat the right foods. That's my biggest thing is eating the right foods. My mom started that, I think I was 13 or 14 when she started doing this. We thought she was kind of crazy at the time. She's like, "I'm cutting out salt. I'm cutting out grease." And we're like, "Okay." But she found ways to cook that were still very tasty, you know? And so I just picked that up. And so I just make sure I watch what I eat, and if there's something I feel that's detrimental to my body, I just stay away from it. Drink a lot of water. And I do a lot of running and weightlifting, too, helps a lot, a lot.
Shelby Stanger: And then any advice for getting involved in a movement like yours? It can be intimidating in a little scary.
Nicol Hodges: If there's something you want to do and there's fear involved, that's just there to stop you. So you're going to have to step over it. I tell my daughters that all the time. I think that's why my oldest one is, well, both of them actually, I think that's why they're successful at what they do. I told them if you're not scared, then you're too comfortable and you need to step out of that and you need to push through it.
Shelby Stanger: Step over your fear, see it, acknowledge it, and then let that fear know that it's not needed. Time and time again, Nicol's overcome her fears in order to keep pushing, keep running and to keep standing up for what she knows is right. Nicol Hodges, thank you so much for coming on this show. It's such a great time talking with you in person. I really hope we can run together sometimes soon. You can follow Nicol @seenicrun01 on Instagram. That's S-E-E-N-I-C-R-U-N-0-1. You can also check out got her website, seenicrun.com. To learn more about Unity Runners, you can follow them on Instagram @unityarunners, and you can find out about their upcoming events unityrunners.com.
Shelby Stanger: Wild Ideas Worth Living is part of the REI Podcast Network. It's host by me, Shelby Stanger, written and edited by Annie Fasler and Sylvia Thomas, and our Senior Producer is Chelsea Davis. Our Executive Producers are Palo Motola and Joe Crosby. As always, we appreciate when you follow this show, rate it and review it wherever you listen. And remember, some of the best adventure happen when you follow your wildest ideas.