Evan Hicks & the Battle Creek Half Marathon ft. Eric Zughaib

In S2Ep8 of the PRP, Adam chats it up with 2:41 marathoner, 7:22 beer miler, Notre Dame alumni & product design engineer Evan Hicks who has been preparing for the Battle Creek Half Marathon on July 2nd, 2022. Evan shares details about his adolescence attending Detroit Catholic High School and explains how his introduction to running played a pivotal role in mellowing him out. Evan admittedly excelled at everything he touched as a youngin, so running served him with an immediate dose of humble pie and changed the trajectory of his life forever.
  
Eric Zughaib, aspiring writer, dog daddy, e-bike enthusiast and the PRP's go-to substitute host joins the show as guest host and displays his talent for hilarious banter coupled with hard hitting follow up questions. Eric gets vulnerable when he shares his outlook on Strava as he explains that he's in a different place in his life with running and fitness right now. As someone who doesn't run everyday because of an significant injury he is recovering from, sometimes it can be hard for Eric to check Strava and see that all of his cronies are crushing massive workouts on the daily.

The PRP listenership is enlightened with Evan's unique (and dare we say corky) approach to training. Rather than focusing on pace or heart rate, Evan focuses on power in the form of metabolic watts. His mantra? In wattage we trust. Evan then shares details about the last couple years of his running life due to COVID, his professional commitments, getting engaged and purchasing a house he hasn't really had the opportunity to put together an all out A race training camp. His outlook on his situation, however, is as refreshing as it gets; it's ok to just have running be something you do. It doesn't need to define you and you don't need to be completely obsessed with it. It's fine if you choose to go all in, but Evan has found that as he's grown up, diversifying his interests have helped him mature and grow both as a human being and as a runner. Evan then shares his gratitude for his running community and explains why he appreciates the transparency of Strava so much. Why does Evan continue to be so passionate about the sport? Easy answer - it's the community aspect that keeps him coming back for more. 

Why Evan be flippin those pages so loudly? Did Evan throw up on a girl in his debut XC race?! What is Evan's extremely hot take on Strava kudos criteria? How does Evan leverage his love for pacing into working out and staying in shape?! What exactly is positive peer pressure?! Ummm why does Evan have minions on his nipples?! This an much more on this light hearted and good spirited episode of the PRP.

Recorded Monday June 27th @ 6:30PM EST

Sponsors
Ann Arbor Running Company
Vul-pine Socks
Long Run Coffee