Adam Hughes Is Making His Mark With the Pre Race Podcast
My guest today is a runner and fellow podcast host, so it only makes sense that we will have a lot to talk about.
As an ultra runner, he is sure to have some stories that no doubt we will get into today.
I am looking forward to going a few easy miles with Adam Hughes today.
Adam Hughes
The Perfect Storm Of Events
Adam Hughes grew up mostly playing soccer.
The sport proved to be rough on his body and he needed two ACL surgeries after many years of playing.
After college, Adam still wanted to be active but wanted an activity that seemed safer.
Though he wasn’t a runner quite yet, in the back of his mind he knew that he eventually wanted to run a marathon.
The perfect storm of events happened that ultimately steered him towards becoming a runner.
The girl he was dating at the time had a dad that was a runner.
Her dad introduced Adam to the Maffetone Method, a training program that focused exclusively on aerobic running.
That new way of thinking about training changed how Adam would view running.
Slow Down To Speed Up
In the beginning, heart rate training was a tough pill to swallow for Adam and it seemed counterintuitive.
At the time he began training slower, he also added yoga into his regular routine.
The combination of the Maffetone Method along with yoga led to some big changes in Adam’s body and therefore performance.
He found that his body didn’t break down as much after long efforts and he still had energy in his reserves.
One month before Adam was scheduled to run his first marathon, he sustained a small injury outside of running.
He was still able to successfully complete the marathon by slowing down and in the end, he found that he had the energy to spare.
This realization made him curious about how much farther he could go.
That moment is when Adam began to research the ultra world and got sucked in.
Adam Hughes
A Natural Progression
As Adam began to learn more about ultrarunning, he really began to fall in love with the sport.
Ultrarunning is more focused on distance rather than time and that appealed to Adam.
He had a natural progression in the sport going up the distance ladder with two 50k’s, a 50 miler, and two 100k’s.
His most recent 100k was in Zion, Utah in April of 2021 which was originally scheduled for the year prior.
Running a challenging 100k while traveling was not in his original plans for his 100-miler build-up.
In hindsight, Adam realized that after the race rather than taking the time to recover, he went back to his normal training.
That mistake was the first of many that led to his injury.
His first 100-mile race was supposed to be in September of 2021, but his injury forced him to hold off.
Adam Hughes
Humbling Experience
Adam never expected to still be dealing with his injury 6 months later.
This has been his first running-related injury and it has been a humbling experience.
He has avoided running and instead focused on doing activities that he is able to do.
Multiple specialists are still trying to determine the cause of his pain.
This experience has taught Adam a lot of lessons:
- Always be a student of the sport.
- Don’t get an ego.
- Do set goals that focus on you and not based on what others are doing.
- You are not defined by your accomplishments.
- Your community will love you regardless.
Adam made the decision to take the rest of 2021 off from running to give his body the best chance to heal.
That extra time he has from not running is now devoted to the podcast that he recently launched.
The Pre Race Podcast
Adam has always had an entrepreneurial spirit.
After college, he moved from his home state of California to Ann Arbor, Michigan to be closer to someone he was dating.
Adam fell into the real estate world where he has been working for the past 5 years.
In the past year, he has done a lot of introspection and is currently in the midst of a career transition.
He decided that it was time to do the things in life that he wanted to do.
Adam knew two things for sure, that he loved running and enjoyed what he knew of the podcast world.
That is how the Pre Race Podcast was born.
A Learning Curve
Adam has recently begun working on the podcast full-time.
The premise for his podcast is to connect with people a week before they run a race.
He came up with the idea to have a new guest co-host each week.
His idea has transformed organically from him choosing the co-host to the guest often bringing a person of their choice.
That person may be a training partner, spouse, friend, etc.
Once the guest runs their race, Adam publishes a race report and posts it on Instagram for followers to stay up to date.
Creating a podcast from scratch hasn’t been easy, but it has been worth it.
Mentioned In This Episode:
Stay connected with Adam Hughes by checking out his Website and following him on Instagram.
Adam Hughes is the creator and host of the Pre Race Podcast. When he's not talking running with his guests he's out on the trails running ultras. Click To Tweet
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