Chris Detzel (00:00)
All right, welcome to another DFW Running Talk. I'm Chris Gutzel, and today's special guest is Rafa Aguilar. Rafa, how are you?
Rafa Aguilar (00:08)
Hey Chris, thank you for having me here. I'm excited to talk to you, man.
Chris Detzel (00:12)
I'm excited to talk to you. you know, it's funny is I've seen you around. I don't know if I've seen you seen you, but I've definitely seen you on Instagram and and you've done some really cool things and I want to talk a little bit about that. So I'm really excited to to have you on. So thanks for coming.
Rafa Aguilar (00:28)
No, absolutely.
Chris Detzel (00:28)
so tell me a little bit about yourself. Like when did you start running? Like what'd you do in high school? And let's go from there.
Rafa Aguilar (00:34)
for sure. I actually I lived in Honduras. I'm originally from Honduras, so I lived there until I was nineteen years old. I used to run cross country, but they used to put me in the worst events you can imagine. So I was constantly either being third, second, and even last. So the coach we had there, she it was like her first year's coaching track and field, so
It didn't go the best way that you can imagine on the first year. we're like her guinea pump.
Chris Detzel (01:01)
Is your freshman?
Rafa Aguilar (01:02)
Yeah. Well that was whenever I was actually a senior. So that's whenever I actually like
Chris Detzel (01:06)
No well.
Rafa Aguilar (01:06)
enjoyed for the first time running. After that, yeah, I used to play I used
Chris Detzel (01:09)
Okay. Did you play any other sports or did you play any sports in besides
Rafa Aguilar (01:13)
to play soccer, which it's funny because you would think that goalies are tall. I was just a fast goalie and that's helpful in some situations, but not really that much in others.
Chris Detzel (01:24)
Well, I guess if you can jump, that helps, right?
Rafa Aguilar (01:26)
Yeah, I mean I I'm pretty sure that helps out too. I was I was really good at consistently just being there and that I was really constantly trying to be like the best goalkeeper I could be.
Chris Detzel (01:38)
Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (01:39)
But then after I graduated and and came here to the States, I was able to be accepted into Texas AM University. And I did my undergrad studies there. I was there for year for four years and a half. And I didn't do any workouts whatsoever there. I was really, really
Chris Detzel (01:58)
Nothing.
Rafa Aguilar (01:58)
busy. And it was insane. It was a different period in my life for real.
Chris Detzel (02:02)
Did did you did you you came here to go to college? Is that how that how'd that work out? Like you just kinda applied and got it.
Rafa Aguilar (02:08)
Yeah, pretty much.
I was lucky enough to be in high school where all my professors in Honduras were from the states. I was constantly talking about the idea of coming here and that's something that the school that I went to, which is the American School of Tegucigalpa. Toocigalpa is the capital of Honduras for those listeners who don't know that.
Chris Detzel (02:31)
Glad you said that.
Rafa Aguilar (02:33)
And
from there the idea of constantly was pushed about you studying here and then if you're lucky you can get a job and I was one of the very few who was able to to do that and to this day I'm I'm really lucky to say that I'm one of the few who is still here. Living the dream.
Chris Detzel (02:50)
Well, that's awesome, man. I mean, you seem to be doing okay. So, now, you
Rafa Aguilar (02:51)
Yeah.
Chris Detzel (02:54)
go to Texas A and you didn't do any sports or anything like that. What so what'd you get your degree in and then then what then what how'd you get into running after that? Or at least?
Rafa Aguilar (03:03)
For sure.
Chris, that's a very interesting question because in Texas AM I got my undergrad in industrial and systems engineering with an undergrad in with a minor, sorry, in business. And after that, I was able to get my a master's degree in project management. That's a whole different story.
Chris Detzel (03:22)
okay.
Rafa Aguilar (03:22)
So
Chris Detzel (03:24)
Where'd you go to get that?
Rafa Aguilar (03:25)
I went univers at the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky, but that's an online program. and for that one I I was already here in Dallas when I started that one. So long to make long the long story short, I
It graduated from AM. I graduated without a job. And in that time frame, I had to pretty much just search for a job, or pretty much my work visa was gonna be expired. So I was like on a on a time clock. And thankfully everything aligned and I was able to get a job for the first time here in Dallas as a manufacturing engineer.
Chris Detzel (04:01)
Nice.
Rafa Aguilar (04:01)
Back then I was going to a factory every single day, being early at the factory like at 6 a.m. every single day. So I forced myself to become a morning person. And whenever no for
Chris Detzel (04:11)
skinny. Sometimes we get a push.
Rafa Aguilar (04:14)
real. when I turned 25, that was the moment that I felt that I was kind of out of shape. I was
I I joke about this a lot, but I I truly meant that at the moment was that I felt that I was I was very old. I'm twenty-eight now and I see how how different and how wrong I was, but I truly felt that that was it. But looking into the mirror, I saw someone that I wasn't proud of. And that's as as as honest I ca as I can be, because it truly
felt that I had so much potential that I wasn't really able to to show show off, to be able to be getting like that next step of whatever I wanted to be. At that time that w I was already two years into the job here in Dallas. and I was just I didn't like my life. So when I turned twenty five,
I started doing a I wanted to be focusing more on fitness. I wanted to start doing a challenge, take it seriously, take care of my eating habits and just change my life. And that's exactly what what happened. I
signed up for my first
Chris Detzel (05:15)
Were you were you like were you little
before sorry, were you getting overweight and you know, you weren't exercising or was it just like I mean, 'cause you're pretty young, so
Rafa Aguilar (05:23)
I wasn't exercising.
I was I remember that I was drinking a lot back in the day. So that was I was like in that and I was also a very active vapor, which now to saying it out loud, I it sucks. I don't know what it was going on in my mind, but I'm glad that that was over. I
Chris Detzel (05:39)
Young and dumb. Young and dumb, you know.
Rafa Aguilar (05:42)
r I even remember the date that I threw
away the last vape that I had that was in March 10, 2023, and I said, like this is it, that I'm never gonna do that again. And literally, that's I've been true to my word. Never did it again.
Chris Detzel (05:59)
D miss it.
Rafa Aguilar (06:00)
yep. What was that? Not even close, brother. I'm I I'm
Chris Detzel (06:00)
You you miss it or I said do you miss it?
Rafa Aguilar (06:04)
actually the opposite. I see someone smoking, I'm just like, how could you? You could be so much better.
Chris Detzel (06:11)
I'm I'm
the same way. So I haven't smoked.
Rafa Aguilar (06:14)
There you go.
No, you're even better than me because I I went through that rabbit hole and it just it took me a while to get out of it.
Chris Detzel (06:20)
Hey, teach your own. We all we all have our things, right? And we gotta figure it out and
Rafa Aguilar (06:24)
Really?
Chris Detzel (06:24)
you figured it out. So congratulations, you know.
Rafa Aguilar (06:27)
at the same time, like whenever I first started working out, I remember that I learned about the KD Trail five the KD Trail actually. And and that was in 2023. That was whenever I first started running. I did like two kilometers, which is like a mile and some change. and I was one of the first users of an app called Run Up.
I was I was using run up beta to build like my first half marathon program. Funny enough, back in the day they made you run a 5k to see like where you were at. I did that and after that I threw up in a trash can. So I I was definitely discouraged to say the least. but I kept going and day by day I
had like that promise to myself to at least for 75 days go out there and and see what I what what I was made of. I was taking my training really seriously, my eating habits really seriously as well. And I was able to complete my first half marathon back in August of 2023, which funny enough, I did the same race this year. and I was second. So it was a really nice full moment.
Chris Detzel (07:34)
Wh which half marathon
was it? And
Rafa Aguilar (07:36)
That was the
hot trot in White Rock. And for the first year I was able to finish in one hour and fifty minutes. And this year I finished
in one
Chris Detzel (07:44)
It's not bad.
Rafa Aguilar (07:45)
hour and twenty-three.
Chris Detzel (07:46)
It's really fast and especially being so hot.
Rafa Aguilar (07:48)
It was
definitely so hot. I cannot imagine how people would do that. It's it's insane. but I was
Chris Detzel (07:56)
All right, so I wanna talk
about that race then real quick, because we'll go back. But so this year you ran hot to trot and you got second place, one twenty thirty. Who won? What was the time there? Do you know who it was?
Rafa Aguilar (08:07)
So
his time was 119. I followed him in Instagram and funny enough, his mom sent me a DM asking me for pictures and it was like it reminded me of my mom, so that was so so kind of funny. Owen Smith, that's his name. That guy was just flying. we
Chris Detzel (08:24)
it's okay. So
Rafa Aguilar (08:26)
were going, yeah.
Chris Detzel (08:27)
No, so one of the things I like to do and and especially, you know, since you got second place, and and and maybe we think about this too in in another race that you did. So I want you to think about it if if we can't get through this race or from from my my perspective is when you're running that race, d did you have one expectations that you could win it? Or did you know that, you know, the person that was in front of you, did you know who you was or did you look at the times the the people
There to see what times they had before, you know, w what did that look like first?
Rafa Aguilar (08:59)
Yeah.
No, I I definitely thought that I was gonna win it.
Chris Detzel (09:04)
Okay.
Rafa Aguilar (09:05)
especially with I I did my due diligence and checked out like previous times. I think I had it for the first like 10k. For the first 10k it was like cutting butter. I was going sub six. I knew that I was not gonna PR, but at least going at the pace that I wanna I want my next marathon to be at. I I it was like a good reference point.
But after that, after like the seven mile mark, I saw Owen to my left, and I'm like, yeah, this guy, he looks he looks clean. I don't think I'll I'll catch to him. But something really interesting happened, Chris. Like on that race, even being second, and I was just fighting for my life at the very end, it made me realize a lot of different things.
One of them being that since it wasn't White Rock, I saw all of my friends going and running, doing their long runs, doing their runs.
Chris Detzel (09:55)
Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (09:56)
And it it was such a nice thing to for me to realize, like, wow, going back from twenty twenty three to now, I didn't have a single person back then in my community. I think I had like one or two friends who went at the at the finish line. But then going at now, I'm
not only in one of the best shapes in my life, I'm coaching around almost 50 people, I'm also being trying to be like the best version of myself that I can be, both in my job, in my life. And and that wouldn't have been possible if the me from 2023 wouldn't have made that decision.
If the me from March 10th, 2023 didn't throw that vape to the trash gonna be like, I need to change my life. And to answer your question, even though I didn't win, I felt that it was definitely something that I needed because it's gonna give me more hunger to keep looking for races where I'm not not always will win, but definitely will search for
Opportunities where I can see what I'm made of, see what else I can take out of myself.
Chris Detzel (10:57)
Yeah man, I I you're young, you're you basically you're just into I know you've run a marathon or I don't know how many yet, we'll get into that, but you've got a long ways to go. And it'll be fun to see. I was just looking at some of your Strava stuff before this call and all right, you know, this guy's for real and he's done some really good things and so I think that you know, you tell me that is and the opportunity I think is big. Now yeah, just 'cause you didn't win first, who cares? You there's a lot of past people out there and and you never know
Rafa Aguilar (11:21)
No, it's it's
Chris Detzel (11:22)
who's gonna show up that day. You know what I mean? Like
Rafa Aguilar (11:25)
Yeah, I call it
Chris Detzel (11:25)
It's just
Rafa Aguilar (11:26)
there's always a sleeper. No matter what race you go to, there's always
Chris Detzel (11:28)
yeah. Mm-hmm.
Rafa Aguilar (11:30)
a guy who tells you like, yeah, I started running like a year ago, but I just finished my first marathon in two fifty. And you're like, dude, like you you just build a f yeah, and I'm there like
Chris Detzel (11:36)
Yeah. My first. Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (11:40)
fighting for three years, just trying to get as close as I can. And that's just something you accept. And I was talking with
My friend Braden about it like this last week. You you know Brayden. And he was saying that
Chris Detzel (11:52)
I do.
Rafa Aguilar (11:52)
I was telling him, like, dude, I I freaking hate being second, like in so many of these races. And he told me, like, dude, if you hate it, imagine how it feels to be third. Like because the last couple of races
Chris Detzel (12:02)
He's funny.
Rafa Aguilar (12:04)
I've been beating Brayden. And he hopefully he sees this because we have like this a small competition going on where
We try to beat one another and we're doing a great
Chris Detzel (12:12)
Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (12:12)
job in just like keeping it like healthy enough where a lot
Chris Detzel (12:16)
I love it.
Rafa Aguilar (12:17)
of like different like times are being like shattered because of that.
Chris Detzel (12:21)
One of the things I ask people is, you know, because I think that, and and you already answered this funny because you know, a lot of times when you go run with people and friends and you know, you build relationships within the community, you start running with Pegasus or whoever you're running with, right? and then I'll ask, you know, is there somebody that you wish you could beat or that you want to beat every single time, even though you're friends or whatever? And, you know, it's like because that's your rabbit, you know. and right now you're probably his rabbit, but
You know, at some point, you know, maybe he's gonna get faster than you. Who knows? But it you guys push each other to be better and that's really the goal. Yeah, you wanna beat him, but if he beat you, so what? You know, like that's just I mean, so y I think that's the guy, you know, for you. Yeah, maybe
you're the guy for him. So
Rafa Aguilar (13:03)
for real. And and it it
it truly that's why I said it's like a healthy competition because in in his case and mine we're really we're built different. By by that I mean that our body compositions are completely different. I come more of from
strength training background, a focus more on log distance. I think Braden like where he shines a lot in is like in his short air races, his experience, and as well as other people that I look it upon into is that I just see that they're really consistent. And
Chris Detzel (13:38)
Yeah. Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (13:40)
more than than than wanting to beat them, I'm like trying to analyze like okay, what are they doing that I'm not doing?
What can I do to be like the best version of myself and adding like those more like tools and details to make sure that I'm not missing anything. And I think that's where the
Chris Detzel (13:56)
Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (13:57)
magic is.
Chris Detzel (13:58)
Yeah, and I think you mentioned something was, you know, consistency is is key at the end of the day, is you know, find something that works for you and then stay consistent and learn from others, you know, that's what I heard as well. So something you said earlier, and we'll get into this part later, but and and I just at least want to touch on it, is that you're coaching now running stuff. So and you
Rafa Aguilar (14:17)
Yeah.
Chris Detzel (14:17)
have fifty people that you so I want to get into that in a minute, but let's go back and and talk a little bit about kind of that first half marathon, and then
know you you mentioned I think this is your first I'm not sure that the 150 but you know what got you into you know to longer distances did did you say okay I really like that half marathon let me do a few more or do do you want to go into the main marathon and did you have anybody helping you? Did you run with the group? When did you start kind of looking at communities and things like
Rafa Aguilar (14:45)
Man, you're touching on to
Chris Detzel (14:46)
A lot of questions.
Rafa Aguilar (14:47)
so many points, but I they make so much sense. And in my journey specifically, it all started when, well, I signed up for that half. I remember that a friend of mine told me, like, how are you just gonna run a half? Like, you're not like just like ha half of an engineer, half of a lawyer. You're either a lawyer or an engineer or a doctor. Imagine you're going to a procedure and like the surgeon says, like, yeah, I'm half a surgeon. Let me help you out.
So that was again back in 2023, and I'm like, damn, he's right. I need to do the whole thing. But before doing so, I wanted to push myself in the half to see, like, all right, what is like my ceiling right now? What am I really looking forward to taking like that next step? And for the first year of me running, I was running by myself consistently. I was going to some
Chris Detzel (15:32)
Okay.
Rafa Aguilar (15:32)
run-clubs here and there, but really nothing consistent.
it wasn't until probably my Houston build where I consistently was going to a run club in the mornings. I was going to others in the afternoon, but I was I feel that I was lying to myself there because I was I was I am decently fast, but you need to be running with people who are faster than you to an extent to get like the
Chris Detzel (15:58)
Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (15:58)
next step.
Chris Detzel (16:01)
I agree.
Rafa Aguilar (16:02)
So yeah, like I prepare for the full marathon in Dallas. That was my first marathon after running two halves. That was
Chris Detzel (16:09)
Was that twenty twenty four? Was that twenty twenty four or
Rafa Aguilar (16:11)
in twenty twenty-three too.
Chris Detzel (16:13)
Okay. Well, did a lot of stuff in twenty twenty three.
Rafa Aguilar (16:14)
So I ran
yeah, a lot of stuff in 2023. To make what matters worse, I was also let go from my job in 2023. So it was
Chris Detzel (16:23)
that stinks.
Rafa Aguilar (16:24)
a whole it was a whole thing. I'm really grateful for that. No, like for real. Like if it wasn't because of running, I would have
Chris Detzel (16:26)
Good thing you had running then. Good thing it helps.
Rafa Aguilar (16:31)
been gone insane or God knows where I would be, like if it if I didn't have running in my life. It truly came in a moment where I needed it the most.
Chris Detzel (16:39)
Yeah. Yeah. I like that.
Rafa Aguilar (16:41)
so as I was preparing for Dallas, I was able to finish it in three hours and fifteen minutes for our first marathon. I think it was a really great time.
Chris Detzel (16:50)
Great. Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (16:53)
it was insane once I finished because I was so dead afterwards. I was I did all I preferred, yep.
Chris Detzel (16:58)
Mm, that makes sense. And did you prepare that marathon by yourself, basically, or did you say sometimes you ran?
Rafa Aguilar (17:05)
I was still using
Chris Detzel (17:05)
Okay.
Rafa Aguilar (17:06)
Runner at the moment, so it was definitely getting better. I use Runner for like Yeah.
Chris Detzel (17:10)
So you just completely used run up. I mean that's that's
all that's what that okay I I've heard of others doing that, you know, so it's pretty cool.
Rafa Aguilar (17:17)
Yeah, and it was it was really
good. I it was like the variety of different like workouts that couldn't like that that it it gave you, it was really good. The one thing that after all and what I noticed whenever I first got my first coach, was the communication aspects. Like I will can tell Rana tomorrow to be like, I'm gonna do a marathon in six weeks and I finish those six weeks and then the next day I'm like, I'm gonna do that again. Okay, here we go. So it doesn't really give you any feedback on the turnaround.
turnover process between one race and the other. So that's whenever you start to get injured, you start to do like you need like that one person to tell you like, all right, I wouldn't recommend you doing this. You don't need to run every single race fast.
Chris Detzel (17:55)
Yeah, and especially and
especially so 'cause you're so early in your running journey, right? Like you just don't know
Rafa Aguilar (18:01)
Yeah.
Chris Detzel (18:02)
a lot of things. And I I agree, I mean, if you get a coach, you know, especially after that first year, I mean it makes sense. Who'd you get as a coach?
Rafa Aguilar (18:09)
I was coached by Kendall Rose for my Houston build and after
that
Chris Detzel (18:14)
Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (18:14)
I've been just coaching myself. but I'm gonna get a new coach for my Boston build and I'm excited for that one. That's gonna start in December.
Chris Detzel (18:22)
Well let's let's jump all the way to kind of your when did you run your fastest half marathon? And then you mentioned that, you know, you use Kindle but also, you know, you know, Braden and all this stuff. Did you start running with these guys at during kind of this stuff? When did that happen?
Rafa Aguilar (18:39)
So we're gonna go all the way until 2025. that was in September, spe literally a year ago.
Chris Detzel (18:47)
Okay.
Rafa Aguilar (18:48)
I was preparing to run a 5k and I spent my whole summer preparing for a 5K, which didn't go as I expected.
Chris Detzel (18:57)
Okay.
Rafa Aguilar (18:58)
really and that happens a lot, like
Chris Detzel (19:00)
It's just running.
Rafa Aguilar (19:00)
I think you learn
more about the races that go awful than the ones that actually go pretty well.
Chris Detzel (19:05)
Hundred percent.
Rafa Aguilar (19:06)
But to answer your question, I was preparing for for Houston. I already signed up. And what I try to do in my training programs is to do like half of the distance in the middle of the training program so that I know like, all right, how what how am I doing?
I need to recreate the race experience to the closest degree as possible. And what a better way to do it like in an actual race. So I started my rent running program in September. I started running more with Pegasus by that date.
Funny enough, my running accounts starting growing more. So I was starting to get invited to events, talking to more to more people, talking to different types of people, and more to more about that in in a second. But
Chris Detzel (19:48)
Okay.
Rafa Aguilar (19:48)
as we continue through that, I signed up for a half marathon, which was in the middle of the training program. And that was in November 1st.
back in twenty twenty-five and it's called the half run by DRC and in that race I was able to get one hour and eighteen minutes so my my my fastest half marathon yet
Chris Detzel (20:11)
So let's talk about training. I want to talk about training for that half. So that you mentioned that you were actually in the middle of that training program to run the full, I guess, in Houston. We'll talk about that in a minute, but tell me about kind of what that training plan looked like. I know it wasn't for the half specifically, but what's kind of your philosophy around, I mean, since you're now a coach, what's kind of what was your philosophy around that?
Rafa Aguilar (20:33)
So now that I I was actually analyzing it a couple of weeks ago because I took my RRCA certification so I was I feel now that all the concepts that Kendall was putting together like make so much sense now more than before.
She was showing me my performance management chart back then. And I'm like, I just see all these lines and all these dots. And I'm glad that you share that with me, but it doesn't really mean a lot for me back then. Now it truly means so much because I understand, like, okay, we are not always constantly going up, and by up, I I see that the volume is going up and down, up and down. And that was because we want to maintain the level of intensity.
To a good level, to a good point, but at the same time, constantly having those down weeks where we can reassess how I'm how I am feeling, what type of workouts I can put in. And especially for that block, I had like a lot of different events going on. And it really helped to be having like a really great structure for strength training.
I also did a high rox in that s a pr program as well. Actually did two of them.
And it truly opened my mind to see that I was really good at having like high volume, high intensity, but at the same time, it all came like hand in hand with like the strength training aspect. So the way that I see it now is that a lot of people say that in order to be faster, you need to be thinner or skinnier, but not at all. Like you're gonna get faster by getting stronger.
So if you don't have like a good you can have like the best program out there, but if you're not putting the time in the gym to make sure that your your quads, every single part of your legs, your hips are strong, the ceiling that you're gonna get is not gonna be as high as the one you're gonna obtain with a proper strength program.
And back then I was managing my own strength program. I still do. And it truly aligned really well with the efforts that my coach at the time was prescribing. So it truly everything was going so well. Like I enjoyed that training program so much, and that specific
Time in my life because everything was just checking up. It was like I had like a hot knife and every single piece of butter that I was cutting clean, clean, clean. 5k
Chris Detzel (22:57)
Nice.
Rafa Aguilar (22:58)
clean, half marathon, clean, high rocks, kinda clean. Then it was it was good. And I was obtaining all like all these things that I wasn't even sure what to think about them. I was in a really great moment in my life. And
Seeing it now as a coach, I'm like, wow, it was truly thanks to like all of the hybrid training that I was doing. Because if not, like the probability of me getting injured with all of those things could have gone exponentially up. And thankfully that wasn't the case.
Chris Detzel (23:27)
I
like the idea
of you know including and you know, you mentioned that you have to be super s you don't have to be super skinny to to run well and you know, you just being strong is is one of the keys and you know you you certainly have to run the miles, there's no doubt. You don't run the miles, you don't get the tons. But but I I do think that to some degree there's gotta be a balance and I and do especially
Rafa Aguilar (23:46)
Yeah.
Chris Detzel (23:47)
as you get older as an athlete, you know, it's it's so important.
hit your forties, fifties for sure. you know, you know, something that I'm not really good at at the moment, which I will be changing myself in the next month or so. I'm gonna be doing way more weights or at least implementing weights and stuff. Let's say way more, which t start with two times a week. Anyways, the point is like I think that, you know, that that is gonna just serve you well no matter what you do. And it's gonna help you not be injured so much, you know, if if you
incorporate the weights and the core stuff in addition to the running piece, you know.
Rafa Aguilar (24:18)
Yes. And one of the things that I like about the running community that I'm currently in is that I see runners from so many different backgrounds, different ages. Of course you know the one and only Dan Club. He is someone that I look into like a lot. He is he's a beast.
Chris Detzel (24:38)
He is.
Rafa Aguilar (24:38)
Especially for being in his fifties
and being able to get like those times, I'm like, all right, what is he doing? Then I could probably implement whatever I've I'm in my fifties. Yeah.
Chris Detzel (24:47)
Damn he's old. No, I'm just joking.
Rafa Aguilar (24:50)
I mean, that's true, but he still has a better bat marathon time than me, so he's doing something right.
Chris Detzel (24:57)
He's doing awesome. No, I agree.
I try I've been trying to get him on, but I I haven't but I haven't been able to get him on yet. He's a busy guy.
Rafa Aguilar (25:02)
He's a busy guy. Like he he's he's running all the time, so
Chris Detzel (25:05)
Exactly. So all right. So you you and you mentioned so are you running with Pegasus a lot or is is there another group that you run?
Rafa Aguilar (25:12)
Yeah, I I
try to run with them at least three to four times a week.
Chris Detzel (25:17)
Okay.
Rafa Aguilar (25:18)
the club has grown a lot, so I'm I'm happy to be part of it. Especially now I notice that I pivot into like several different run clubs. And as someone who has like a running page, I think that's that serves me well because I get to know like a lot of different people.
and I respect like every single run club, like every single one of them has like their own
Chris Detzel (25:39)
Me too.
Rafa Aguilar (25:40)
thing going on and it's it's truly interesting like how they understand like the take into like the chronic community that they have. So the point where I'm like
Chris Detzel (25:48)
What what other clubs
Rafa Aguilar (25:50)
what was that?
Chris Detzel (25:51)
I say what other clubs do you run with besides Pegasus? He said you run with
Rafa Aguilar (25:53)
So I have I I've been
running with Pegasus mostly in the mornings. I go to Glad You're Here Run Club in Fort Worth. That's the
run club
Chris Detzel (26:02)
no.
Rafa Aguilar (26:02)
that I'm currently working with. I've also been running with people from two one four. I sometimes go to two one four at Saturdays, depending on what I have in my schedule. Now it's just a matter of seeing like who's down to run with me. because with the workouts and everything.
Not everyone is
Chris Detzel (26:18)
Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (26:19)
down to go to do like six minute miles on a random Saturday, especially with this heat.
Chris Detzel (26:24)
Yeah, it's it's tough. But I mean, there's lots of people out there that, you know, you've got some Pegasus and you get certainly some folks and you know, completely sloth, et cetera.
Rafa Aguilar (26:31)
Just
Chris Detzel (26:33)
Yeah. So all right. So you ran a one eighteen half marathon and you trained, you know, kind of did some cross training, some you know, high rocks and obviously running. and it served you well. And then you know, you're feeling confident because that block was going really well. And so you get to Houston.
Tell
me about that. Marathon.
Rafa Aguilar (26:52)
That was that's an
interesting story, Chris, because for Houston, like as I was saying, like with the butter reference, I had like that knife and everything was going as as it could, like the best it could. And whenever Houston was approaching, I had like this idea in my mind where like I was thinking like, okay, what do I need what do I need to get into Houston? into Boston.
And with everything going on right now, just running a 255 wasn't enough. You need to truly be pushing
Chris Detzel (27:17)
That's right.
Rafa Aguilar (27:18)
the boundary to make sure that with your age and how crazy now it is to get into those races, you had to like truly be in your A game. So with the 118 already in the bag, I was like, okay, what's like the transition to what does like 118 transfers into like in a marathon distance?
And I saw 245 and I was like, there's no way that's actually true. and
Chris Detzel (27:41)
Get your own head already.
Rafa Aguilar (27:43)
and and it was at that moment that I developed, and again, it's like a I the tool that I developed, it's a little bit more simple than what it actually makes it sound like it is. I call it the marathon calculator.
The idea behind it is everything that Garmin has in regards to put your time and see like what you're gonna get. But that was for me, it was like too tricky. And in my job, I'm an engineer in a hospital, so I spend a lot of time into Excel and putting tools together. So it was like, all right, I'm gonna use all of that that I learned and try to put it into like this racing format.
And the marathon calculator was created. Like I put the 26.2 miles and I break down each one of the courses that I've ran in and be getting like a better idea of okay, if I'm really want to get 245, how can I break it down to make it possible? And that's one thing that I also do with every single one of my athletes. Like I sit down with them and I and I tell them like the same speech I just gave to you. Like, we're use the marathon calculator now. We're gonna see like how that looks like.
and thanks to that I was I I was also able to see like all right when I'm gonna take my gels. Are there Houston is kind of pancake flat, so I was not worried so much about the hills. But as I was getting closer and closer to the race, I was running with Pegasus, like my my work and my life in general was feeling really great. But like in everything in life it hits you out of nowhere. I remember that
I was dating this girl from Run Club and we well, we she broke up with me. And that that was that was rough, man. But now looking back into it, I'm just like
Chris Detzel (29:20)
Breakups
are always hard. Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (29:21)
They're
always hard, but I was talking to my roommate about that the other day and he was like, I think that thanks to that you were able to do the two forty five because you had like that pain in your heart that made you push to something that you didn't even know that you had in you. So
Chris Detzel (29:37)
Yeah, probably.
Rafa Aguilar (29:39)
it's it's insane. Yeah, probably who knows, right? But Yeah, probably the training
Chris Detzel (29:41)
In addition to all your training.
Rafa Aguilar (29:44)
was really good too.
I say that, but at the same time, I I figured that there's a lot of things that as a coach I was probably missing and as an athlete as well. Like I consider myself an athlete. But more than that,
Chris Detzel (29:59)
Course.
Rafa Aguilar (29:59)
I w I was constantly fearing that I wasn't good enough. And that is something that I've been working diligently on to make sure that
Not only I'm prepared to the best of my ability, but also I help other people prepare it as much as possible. And by that, you do that by managing the small variables in your day-to-day life. Because if it's rain, if it starts raining, like there's nothing you can do about it. Like you can change your shoes, you can probably take like a jacket or something, but you won't be able to change the weather. But you'll be able to change the things that I just mentioned.
And that's like that was like the point of inception for me. Like, all right, what am I going to to do in order to be as ready as I can for every single one of those races men?
Chris Detzel (30:41)
Yeah, I think that your friend probably had a good point when he said, Look, you know, maybe that breakup kinda helped you run a little bit faster. You know, you gotta take all those little things. You know, if you trained well, you did all those things, you know, there's things that you can't control in life. And one at that time was probably the breakout. And, you know, you took it, you helped, you know, kind of push yourself and maybe that gave you that a little extra that day. You know, but I don't doubt that at all. I think that you take whatever it it is and
If
your heart was breaking, man, you just kinda concentrate and just probably got it tell me about the race though. You know, like I wanna know kinda a little bit about how that went, you know, what you're thinking. I mean, you knew you had to run a two forty five, you did. So
Rafa Aguilar (31:21)
So my strategy for that race was a it was different than the ones that I followed in the past. Because the idea of negative splitting is always gonna be in every single one of my races. And for this one specifically, I was thinking about the hills. There's not really hills. Like there's like a couple little hills at the end of Houston, but
I want with a marathon calculator,
Chris Detzel (31:41)
But it's pretty fun.
Rafa Aguilar (31:42)
I I put everything in there and and I was like, all right, if I really want to push it, how can I keep an honest effort throughout like the first 18 to 19 miles of the race and then make the last 10k actually where I'm gonna be racing?
And I saw that idea. Actually, they that's what they utilized for Boston. And I was like, all right, I'm gonna try the same thing, but in Houston. And something that I also like suffered in the past was that I was going too fast at the very beginning. So I was constantly having that idea in my mind, like, all right, I'm not gonna go as fast. I'm gonna be as consistent as possible for the first 19 miles, and then on the last.
10k I'll I'll give it my own. And it was like the best thing I could do because I was still keeping like a 630 pace for the first 19 miles. not consistently, but I was like lowering it as as I as I continue through the race. And I remember that I saw so many people just passing me by and I'm like, all right, don't think about it. Don't think about it. Keep it, keep it, keep it in your lane. Your own tonal.
Chris Detzel (32:40)
Yeah. Yeah. Run your own race.
Rafa Aguilar (32:44)
No, for real. And
Everything aligned perfectly because my the gels intakes they were feeling good. I was taking the salt pills with my gels and then I was trying to time it to see like where I had like a water station. So it was salt pill, gel, water station. And I only drank water when I was feeling like it. I wasn't drinking on every single one of them.
Chris Detzel (33:07)
Okay.
Rafa Aguilar (33:08)
And thankfully Houston was really flat. I spent some time in Honduras for vacation and there's a lot of like hills there. So the hills that they were talking about in Houston, that was nothing compared to the ones that I was running on. yeah, they're pretty tiny.
Chris Detzel (33:21)
No. I mean they're they're tiny. By the way, you're
y you you ran a five fifty one for your first five K average pace. So
Rafa Aguilar (33:31)
Yeah.
But that's the thing. Like, whenever you I started hitting like the whenever I saw my friends and mile 19, I told them, like, be there, because whenever I see you, I need that push for me to be like, all right, this is it. I'm gonna start now. And I saw I saw Sydney, I saw Kendall and mile nine eighteen, and I'm like, all right, this is it. Like I'm I'm feeling good. I'm gonna start pushing sub-six minute miles.
On every and if you open up my straw, you can see that for that last ten K I was at five fifty nine, five five five fifty eight. And it was really, really close. My heart rate was all over the place, but I knew that I can keep I could keep like that pace to an extent where I was not gonna die.
Chris Detzel (34:12)
Yeah, it looks like yeah, I'm I'm looking at that. That's that's exactly what you did. Like your first I don't know what what I was looking at, so I was wrong. But so your first 5k was more of like the six thirties, right?
And
Rafa Aguilar (34:23)
Yeah.
Chris Detzel (34:24)
then six thirty seven and six thirty three, you started out really good. And that's pretty impressive. Like I'm wow. Okay. I'm looking at your splits. Dude,
Rafa Aguilar (34:31)
And and I
Chris Detzel (34:32)
you ran all the way from six thirty seven and then kind of your last like you said, mile.
probably twenty. You get down to six three, six three, five fifty nine, five fifty nine, five fifty five forty nine. So well and five fifty one. So that's pretty impressive.
Rafa Aguilar (34:45)
And you remember that I was
telling you about the people that were like passing me by? I
Chris Detzel (34:49)
Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (34:50)
saw them again and they were dying, literally, like
Chris Detzel (34:52)
Yeah, exactly. That's
pretty cool, man. That's probably one of the best races I've ever seen somebody run. Like, wow.
Rafa Aguilar (34:57)
I appreciate it. No, and I wanna I wanna repeat
it. I wanna use that same format for Boston because I was able to get the 245 that I wanted. So actually this next week we're gonna be able to see if I I'm gonna put in my time. I think I already did, but I'm crossing my fingers here and just hoping that I'll be able to get in. I'll be I'll be running with a couple of my friends who have like a similar goal. I don't wanna say that.
Chris Detzel (35:24)
Dude, you're gonna get in. Like
Rafa Aguilar (35:26)
Yeah, I mean if not like I
Chris Detzel (35:26)
you're you're gonna get in. Like
Rafa Aguilar (35:28)
I'm telling my friends, if I'm not getting in, I'm suing the city of Boston. And I'm gonna use this as a public service announcement.
Chris Detzel (35:32)
So
Rafa Aguilar (35:34)
If I'm not getting in, I'm suing the city of Boston. Because there's no way.
Chris Detzel (35:37)
Because I mean,
what's the time like two fifty five? Is that the
Rafa Aguilar (35:39)
For men,
my age is two fifty five with the cutoff is gonna be like two fifty two, two fifty one.
Chris Detzel (35:44)
Yeah,
you're in. I mean I don't I don't see why you unless it all of a sudden it's fifteen minutes like okay, but
Rafa Aguilar (35:47)
Again, you never know. No
Chris Detzel (35:51)
that they're not gonna do that. You'll get in.
Rafa Aguilar (35:53)
I mean you never know.
If not let's let's try my b I'll I'll go with the charity or something and hopefully they'll get me they'll get
me in.
Chris Detzel (36:00)
I'm pretty sure you're gonna get
in. No, you don't have to worry about it. I mean, you're way past that. So, all right, so your goal is to go to Boston, and most likely you're gonna get into Boston. You'll know in a week or so whenever they come out. and you know, I wanna kinda I do wanna know kind of what's next for you. My assumption is Boston, but I I wanna know more about how did you get into the coaching piece? Let's talk about you as a coach. And you said you had 50 customers, like when did that start and then
You know, does somebody come up to you and say, Hey, can you build me a plan? What how did that start?
Rafa Aguilar (36:27)
It's it's truly crazy the period that I'm in in my life right now. And before I was talking to you, I was still preparing some of the programs for the athletes from the neighborhood in Fort Worth. That's the training program that none you're that the the glad you're here, it's putting together
for the BMW half full and some people are also running Houston so from like a year ago I was probably coaching around five to six people and today I got like a new client so I'm definitely hitting that 50 mark really soon.
Chris Detzel (37:05)
Nice.
Rafa Aguilar (37:05)
It all started because I wanted to see like, all right, I'm doing like all this all this mileage. A lot of people like my content. I'm actually learning from different coaches, not only for for half marathons, full marathon distances, but also into higher arcs. How can I make this into something that I can also profit from?
And at the same time, how can I make people around me that look look at me as a source of like education be be better, be be able to get like their goals?
and it all started because I put in like the first link for my training program. I remember that a friend of mine from AM said, like, you know something that I've been following your stuff, it looks really well. Well put together. I was wondering if you could help me out for my first half. And I was so excited. Back then I was using a terrible, terrible app to put the programs in.
I think that back then I had like three athletes, and the three of them told me that that was one of the worst apps saver they could ever imagine. After a while, I noticed that I was getting more people. So I decided to start investing into training peaks. In doing so, my the number of people that I was training like started to grow.
To a point where before the neighborhood I was pretty much training around fifteen different individuals for different races. I noticed that it was it was growing, so it was surpassing what I had. So I decided to make it seriously. And now I have a an L C. Rafa runs LLC.
Everything is through training peaks. I have three tiers. Everything is in my website and my Instagram as well. And I
Chris Detzel (38:49)
Yeah, I see it.
Rafa Aguilar (38:50)
met Chloe and Jamie. And though those girls are the ones who manage everything for Glad You're Here Run Club in Fort Worth. I met them in a Lululemon event.
And they were also following like the things that I was doing. And one day they approached me asking me about the idea that they had about the neighborhood. That would be like the name of the training program they wanted to put together. And I need to give them
So much thanks. And I need to truly be as honest as possible. They do an amazing job with everything that has to do with PR. They connect so many people in such an amazing way and forward that for me it was just like instantly. I'm like, I'm down. Like I'm seeing everything you girls are putting together. And I want to be part of that. I want to be part of
the idea and the actions about the neighborhood. And that was an idea that neighborhood.
Chris Detzel (39:48)
And what's this what's this called again that they put together?
Rafa Aguilar (39:51)
The neighborhood is called it's the name of the training program itself. And it's a subsidiary of Glad You're Here Run Club.
Chris Detzel (39:58)
Okay, cool. That's awesome.
Rafa Aguilar (40:00)
And
yeah, we we currently are starting tomorrow. We have thirty people who signed up for our first year. And
Jamie and Chloe have been just supporting me throughout this entire process. they've been pushing me to new levels of of my coaching experience. I was able to get like my coaching's license for Rio this time a couple of months ago. So it's been all lining up pretty well. And I'm happy with starting tomorrow.
Chris Detzel (40:28)
Congrats, man. That's awesome.
Rafa Aguilar (40:29)
Appreciate it, man. Like it's insane because like I also have like my other athletes and they also deserve like the best of me, so
It's been just balancing out my time. I also like take my work really seriously. So probably today will be one of the days that I hate the most, which is I'm not gonna be able to run or cross string because like my priorities are with the program, with my job, and I just gotta be as ready as possible for both of those.
Chris Detzel (40:57)
Yeah, can you do me do me a favor, like as if I come to you and I say, Hey, Rafa, I wanna, you know, can you tell me a little bit about your program? Like I wanna become, you know, I need a coach and I'd love for you to train me. Can you tell me like, you know, I I saw some of the questions you might ask on on there, so but
help me
Rafa Aguilar (41:16)
Yeah. And
Chris Detzel (41:18)
just to understand like what you're about from a coach standpoint. Does that
Rafa Aguilar (41:22)
So
Chris Detzel (41:22)
make sense?
Rafa Aguilar (41:23)
yeah, though I I can start by saying like the one thing that because there's so many coaches out there, and what would
Chris Detzel (41:29)
Yeah, there's a lot.
Rafa Aguilar (41:29)
you invest in me to be your coach? And the answer that I would put together for that one is is really simple. Is that no one is gonna put themselves in your shoes like I am. I'm willing to be there.
throughout your entire process, talk to you about the ideas that I have, the
training that I've been through to make sure that every single one of the workouts has a purpose. And more importantly, getting you from point A to point B in the best way possible. And that can be in several different ways. I coach a lot of people in their first for their first like half marathon, their first distance ever. I coach a lot of people who are also having like very exciting goals. They might be running either Chicago, some of them are running Houston.
and that's only in my program specifically. if you wanted to be part of it, I have three different tiers, and I can help you pretty much with everything from the 5k to the ultramarathon distance, which is one currently that I'm really excited about because I was reading about it in there, and Jack Daniels has like a really specific chapter on it, and I've
Chris Detzel (42:38)
Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (42:39)
been really enjoying that part of this book specifically.
Chris Detzel (42:42)
Cool. Have you run have you run a like a fifty K before
Rafa Aguilar (42:45)
In Ultra.
Chris Detzel (42:45)
or anything?
Rafa Aguilar (42:46)
I think the only thing I've done similarly to it was there was a challenge out there in in the internet that was like do four miles every four hours until you reach forty-eight miles.
Chris Detzel (42:58)
yeah. Yeah. How'd that go? That wasn't that the David Goggins thing? Or was that yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (42:59)
Yeah, pretty it was it was it was pretty good. I mean Yeah. It
was it was good. I was able to to finish it up. it was painful, it was cold also. I remember that I finished it in February and it was it was something else. It truly made me realize that I mean
There's surely no ceiling. Like you you you try to push yourself to an extent, but you can also find yourself in so many different aspects of the work that you do, the workouts that you do, and they all help you be a better person without a doubt.
Chris Detzel (43:32)
That's awesome. do you have any races this year or are you specifically focused in on or you know, that you know, be because you get Houston coming up or no, you already did Houston. You've got I know you get Boston coming up, but potentially.
I think you will you'll get in.
Rafa Aguilar (43:45)
So in
my schedule right now, I have Hyrux Pro Doubles coming up here in Dallas. I also have the Austin International half in January. I'm excited
Chris Detzel (43:55)
Good one. Yeah. Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (43:57)
for that one. A lot of my friends from here are gonna be there. And finally, I also have well Boston in April. So I want this build to be a really a really good build. I have like
A lot of my friends who are gonna do that do it. And a
Chris Detzel (44:12)
Lot of people.
Rafa Aguilar (44:12)
lot of them have like similar goals as mine. So I'm looking forward to that build specifically.
Chris Detzel (44:18)
And you wanna beat all, right?
Rafa Aguilar (44:19)
What was that?
Chris Detzel (44:20)
You wanna beat them all, right?
Rafa Aguilar (44:21)
I mean we can all like cross the finish line together but Yeah, I think no but
Chris Detzel (44:26)
You're not gonna do that. So
Rafa Aguilar (44:30)
for Boston specifically I think that it's better if you have like a small pack. If you do it by yourself it's it's easier to to break down.
Chris Detzel (44:38)
a hundred percent. Do you do you have a specific goal in mind? Like what's that number that you want to
Rafa Aguilar (44:42)
I do, but I I
would rather just keep it to myself for right now. I wanna see after
Chris Detzel (44:47)
All right.
Rafa Aguilar (44:47)
Austin how I feel and if everything goes according to plan, I will definitely let you know later. Yeah,
Chris Detzel (44:55)
Not gonna say it right now. A little early, huh?
Rafa Aguilar (44:58)
it's kinda early and I don't wanna jinx it either. I know that for example for for High Rocks, there's so many movements out there and I just wanna keep myself as healthy as possible.
And to do so,
Chris Detzel (45:07)
Yeah, that's true.
Rafa Aguilar (45:09)
you just gotta like keep a hammering and making sure that you don't do stupid stuff. And that's like one of my main goals. I want to keep myself healthy. Now I sleep consistently. I wanna have that as well. Like all of those small habits that like stack up, they truly make a difference.
Chris Detzel (45:28)
Well will you at least tell me your goal for the Austin? Because that's gonna be a good race. Good good you know, it's pretty down I've I've run a couple of times.
Rafa Aguilar (45:34)
Austin for Austin I want a
PR. I want a PR in the in the half marathon. So anything sub 118, especially since that course is gonna go downhill, if I can reach 116 levels, you can do
Chris Detzel (45:46)
Okay.
Rafa Aguilar (45:46)
the math and realize what that looks like for for a marathon. Definitely less than 249. Yeah.
Chris Detzel (45:50)
Yeah. That's what I was trying to get at. Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (45:54)
So definitely
yeah, I mean like I can say it, like I'm definitely wanting to have a better time than Houston. a lot of people have been telling me that since this is my first Boston, it might not be a reality, but I beg to differ every single time.
Chris Detzel (46:08)
Yeah, and I I think that you just gotta be s somewhat smart about the race, you know, because the first few several miles are downhill. And so that,
Rafa Aguilar (46:16)
Yeah.
Chris Detzel (46:16)
you know, that's a little bit, you know, you know, tricky because you want to go out fast because then you do have some of those hills that, you know, that are in later in the race that you just have to worry about. So, you know, I would just tell you that, you know, you know, be as smart as you possibly can, but I would also tell you to be as aggressive as you can.
You know, there's you get nothing to lose. I mean, if you mess up, you mess up,
Rafa Aguilar (46:35)
Absolutely and and I won't
Chris Detzel (46:38)
but if you don't be aggressive, you might not get it, you know.
Rafa Aguilar (46:41)
For sure. And that's why I wanna train with fonts for this build, because he has done it like a sillion times. So I wanna use his experience to help me have like the best result possible.
Chris Detzel (46:53)
I tell you what, and this this is kudos to him because when he tells you to do something, if you do exactly what he said, I don't know if you're getting him as a coach, but like like there's this one woman, her name's Jera. Do you know Jera? Yeah. So
Rafa Aguilar (47:05)
Of course.
Chris Detzel (47:07)
her first marathon, like she ran Dallas last year, and he told her, hey, look, you're gonna have to run this time. So you start out at seven.
30s or something like that. It was very kind of not aggressive for the first several miles. And and she did exactly what he said. And she was dying afterwards, but she hit her, you know, 305 six. Well, I don't remember what it was. She was trying to hit under three, but you know, it was her first marathon. Like, come on. But her first marathon, she hits three five or ish, you know, I forget the exact amount, three six.
Rafa Aguilar (47:37)
I was I was looking at her mileage a couple of weeks ago and I'm like Jira you're built different like she's hitting like constantly seventies and
Chris Detzel (47:43)
Yeah. Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (47:45)
I I'm I couldn't be more proud of her. She I've truly seen her like become the runner that she is today and it's truly inspiring. Hopefully she she can hear this and and get a little smile because she's truly someone I admire constantly.
Chris Detzel (48:01)
Yeah, you know,
kudos to her for sticking with the plan that Fonz gave. But, you know, I had a newfound kind of I was like I call it love, but you know, appreciation of what he tried to make her do because it was, Hey, look, you know, don't be aggressive at first, but then you'll get faster and faster. Look at his aggressive run, you know, and and he and she got got it, you know, because she followed the plan. So
I think that that's a good idea, you know, 'cause he does know what he's doing. I don't think that's smart. So any
Rafa Aguilar (48:28)
Yeah. He definitely does.
I love that his community is growing so much. Pegasus is
Chris Detzel (48:35)
Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (48:35)
truly at a point where I'm just glad to be constantly seeing them growing and I consider myself part of that community.
Chris Detzel (48:45)
Of course.
Rafa Aguilar (48:46)
especially because I was able to meet like so many different people there.
I want to make a small parenthesis here because whenever back in 2020 at the beginning of 2025 I was constantly trying to get into Boston and I wasn't able to. It wasn't until this year that I finally got that time. And whenever I didn't get those times, I was so sad.
And constantly thinking, like, I don't know where I'm gonna do whenever people are running Boston. I'm gonna be devastated. Like, there's no way I can experience that race. I wanna like block everything and not see a single thing. And thanks to Pegasus, I was able to not only constantly be tracking everyone who was running it, I was able to enjoy a race on someone else's eyes because I know how much effort they put into it.
That now that I'm gonna go by myself, I'm like, I'm so grateful that I was able to get like this community and see them go out there and do the thing. I'm so grateful that even Braden, he was able to go, and now I'm gonna use his knowledge to whenever we go back next year. We're gonna be like, Brayden, you're gonna need to be hitting these paces at this time because you're the one with the experience. Jared is also gonna be
to go
Chris Detzel (49:53)
Exactly.
Rafa Aguilar (49:54)
fonts,
and so many other people are gonna be able to go there as well. So I'm I'm
Chris Detzel (49:59)
Yeah.
Rafa Aguilar (49:59)
looking forward to that as well.
Chris Detzel (50:01)
Be a great big it'd be a good group. I wish we can go this year, this next year, but anything Rafa that we missed that we should have that we should have talked about or that, you know, maybe words of wisdom or anything like that before we go?
Rafa Aguilar (50:12)
I think I have like two two things. Number one, thank you for inviting me, Chris. I think you don't I hope you know the amount of people that you've been impacting with this podcast. I
Chris Detzel (50:24)
Thank you.
Rafa Aguilar (50:25)
was constantly having it back in my mind, thinking like, all right, what what else do I need to do so that Chris can someday invite me? Like what can I do? Because I was seeing all my friends being like
host and I'm like, all right, you've been like a great point of inspiration for me. Like, all right, hopefully after this PR I'll be
Chris Detzel (50:40)
Thank you.
Rafa Aguilar (50:40)
able to get in. but no, I'm glad to I was I'm so glad to be here. I'm I'm glad to have this space to be able to share my story. and secondly the worst of inspirations that I got is for all the runners from
neighborhood who are gonna start your training program, I can just tell you that it's gonna hurt, it's not gonna be easy. But you already you already started something that is the most difficult thing, which is just beginning. And after that it it's like a domino effect where you're gonna know that every single effort is gonna compound and whenever raise day comes, you kill it. You always do it.
With that being said,
Chris Detzel (51:17)
Love that.
Rafa Aguilar (51:18)
Chris, thank you so much. I gotta run to another meeting with one of my athletes, but I cannot thank you enough for this opportunity.
Chris Detzel (51:25)
Rafa, take care and thank you everyone for tuning in to another DFW running talk. I'm Chris Detzel and and Rafa Agua. Take care, man.
Rafa Aguilar (51:31)
Thank you, man.
