211. Veronica Jackson & Alex Bernardi, Olympic Trials Qualifiers

Ali on the Run Show

Ali Feller

Run, Health & Fitness, Women, Inspiration, Runner, Entrepreneur, Sports, Fitness, Health, Running

4.9 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2020

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

"The only reason this was my goal is because it was her goal. I only have this dream because she was crazy enough to dream it first." —Veronica Jackson

Veronica Jackson and Alex Bernardi are among the 500+ women who will be running the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon this weekend in Atlanta, GA. They're longtime training partners, and on this episode, they talk about the power of running friendships, and the effects your best running friends can have on your goals. Today, Alex and Veronica live in separate cities — Veronica in Boston where she's an attorney at the Partners Healthcare Hospital System, and Alex in New York City, where she's a research associate at a nonprofit — but we got together in person to record this episode (after they finished their 20-miler, of course).

Thank you to AfterShokz for sponsoring this episode of the Ali on the Run Show! CLICK HERE for $50 off your Aeropex wireless headphone endurance bundle!

What you’ll get on this episode:

How Alex and Veronica were feeling two weeks out from the Trials (7:30)
Alex reflects on qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Trials (8:30)
What does it mean to each of them to get to run the Trials? (14:00)
Alex talks about her postpartum running experience, and shares how she qualified for the Trials again after having her son (16:20)
#TBT: Alex and Veronica share the story of how they met, and the importance of running friendships (19:50)
How moving out of NYC affected Veronica’s training (34:15)
How Veronica found new running buddies in Boston (52:00)
How Veronica and Alex support each other from afar, and what the OTQ community is like (56:15)

What we mention on this episode:

Central Park Track Club

Sarah Cummings on Episode 112 of the Ali on the Run Show

Jenny Donnelly on Episode 193 of the Ali on the Run Show

Follow Alex:

Instagram @aebernardi

Follow Veronica:

Follow Ali:

Listen & Subscribe:

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of The Alley on the Run Show is brought to you by Aftershocks.
0:04.1	Welcome to The Alley on the Run Show.
0:10.6	I'm your host Allie Feller, and every week we hear from inspiring people who lead interesting lives on the run and beyond.
0:17.8	And while running is what brings us all together on these episodes, it's about finding out what's going on before and after the run.
0:24.6	So join me right here every Thursday to learn about the decisions people have made to get where they are today and how getting sweaty has factored in.
0:33.2	Yay! Happy U.S. Olympic trials marathon week. I feel like the Olympic trials hype has been going strong for so long now, and we've finally made it to race week.
0:44.5	Of course, the vast majority of us are not running this race this weekend, unless you are a man who has run a marathon faster than two hours 19 minutes
0:53.6	or a woman coming in under two hours 45 minutes. You're not running this marathon. But maybe you're here for the hype. I am all in on the hype.
1:04.7	Now, for a select group of professional athletes, the goal this weekend in Atlanta is to finish in the top three and secure that spot on the U.S. Olympic team in the marathon.
1:15.1	But for many, it's about something else. Maybe the goal was the OTQ, the Olympic trials qualifying time, and this is the Victory Lab.
1:23.6	Maybe this is a shot at a PR. I don't know, but I am so fascinated by the stories of the hundreds of men and women who will be descending upon Atlanta to run the country's fastest distances.
1:36.1	If you're in Atlanta for America's Marathon Weekend events, I would so love to see you at one of or both of the live shows I'll be doing down there.
1:45.5	First, I'll be hosting a live show at the Marathon Expo on Friday at 10.15am with five returning Allie on the Run Show guests who will be running the trials on Saturday.
1:56.6	So you can come here from Jenny Donnelly, Sarah Cummings, Caitlin Goodman, Amanda Nurse, and Latia Albertson-Junkins.
2:03.5	It's free, just show up. We're going to have so much fun catching up with them, hearing about how their training is gone, and of course finding out what their goals are for race day.
2:13.5	Then on Saturday, I'm part of a really cool event with you, Ken, alongside Kerry Tullipson, Mebka Flesdi, and some special guests.
2:21.4	This is a free event at 5.30pm Saturday, so it's after the race. We're just going to geek out on all things what we just saw.
2:30.3	It is a ticket event, so check out my website, AllieOnTheRunBlog.com for more information and to go grab your free tickets.
2:38.0	I'd love to see you there.
2:40.0	Okay, whoo, let's get to this week's guest. I say I love these stories, and I love today's story from Veronica Jackson and Alex Bernhardy.
2:50.2	Veronica and Alex are longtime training partners who will both be running the trials on Saturday.
2:56.0	I won't give away too much here since I've already talked for way too long, but if you take one thing from this episode,
	...

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