Olivia de Bear & the Eugene Marathon ft. Johnny Crain

In the season 2 premier of the PRP, Adam chats it up with seasoned running enthusiast, aspiring botanist and Wayne State XC Alumni Olivia de Bear who has been preparing for the Eugene Marathon on May 1st, 2022. Olivia gets vulnerable out of the gates as she shares the story of how her recent COVID diagnosis has made the taper period for this race a bit strange. Although she is lucky enough to be in good health and even more impressive, good spirits, she explains her frustration as it relates to losing her "C-card" this close to race day. Olivia shares some insight into her busy but fulfilling career as a PA, and has tips for runners that may be confined to a work schedule that can be a bit unpredictable.

Johnny Crain, former NCAA Division III National Champion and Elliptigo World Champion, joins the show as guest host and offers his earnest and refreshing insight into how running should fit into the grand equation of life. As Olivia's coach, Johnny's main focus is centered around what works for her specifically utilizing a day-to-day approach that places emphasis on her overall wellness as a human being. Control what you can, make the right decisions when given the opportunity and don't sweat the rest, an approach that Johnny has infamously deemed #wickedbonkproof

Olivia takes a deep dive into the vast world of her running community and shares why having such a tight knit group of homies to trot with on a reoccurring basis is so important to her. Whether it be her brothers from other mothers Mikel Gurrea and Nirala Singh that she shares countless miles with, or her husband Kevin who locks things down at the crib while Olivia is gone for 8 hours every Sunday morning - without her crew, she selflessly admits she wouldn't be the runner nor the person she is today. Olivia then takes listeners on a tour of her childhood and explains how, surprisingly, she had very little experience with running or youth sports in general before walking on at Wayne State. For her, having the opportunity to run in college ended up being one of the true gifts of her lifetime, as it opened the door to countless opportunities (including finding her husband) that she is still reaping the benefits from today. 

What is Olivia's hot take on Strava and how does she utilize the platform to stay more intimately connected with her running crew?! Can dogs really run 50+ mile weeks?? Ummm why was Olivia converting Youtube videos to mp3 files until just a couple of months ago?! Why did Olivia think her running career was over after the Bayshore marathon in 2015?!?! Is Olivia on a redemption tour trying to break all of her college PR's??? All this, and oh so much more in this amusing and wellness-centered episode of the PRP.

Recorded April 25th @ 7:00PM EST