Read the transcript
Gerald Schattle: You know,
asking myself to lose 200
pounds is like telling
somebody to climb a mountain.
Grew up with both
two parent household.
Both of my parents
were educators.
I didn't have a
lot of adversity.
This weight thing has basically
been the hardest thing I've
had to deal with in my life.
And if that's the hardest
thing I've had to deal
with, I got it pretty easy.
You know, where some of my
other kids are dealing with
a lot of different things.
They're being raised by their
grandparents, or they had,
battles with, drug addiction or
whatever they're dealing with.
It's way more than
what I'm dealing with.
Kevin Chang: Hello, and
welcome to the RaceMob
podcast, where we're all about
running long, having fun and
making the human connection.
I'm Kevin entrepreneur
technology and fitness
nerd, and I'm joined by
the head coach of RaceMob
and master motivator, the
incomparable Bertrand Newson.
Gerald was introduced to us by
a previous podcast guest, Mr.
Adam Welcome.
And when an author, marathoner
and motivational speaker tells
you that this guy's story
motivated him, then you listen.
And when you hear that he's
been featured in runner's world
magazine and live with Kelly and
Ryan, man, your ears perk up.
And of course, when you hear
his unforgettable story of
losing 150 pounds all, while
working a very challenging
job, you get inspired.
The road hasn't always been
easy, but what I love about
Gerald's story is that he
just keeps getting back on
the horse time and time again.
This interview is full
of matter of fact advice,
useful takeaways, and an
incredibly inspiring story.
And without further
ado, here's Gerald.
All right, RaceMob audience,
we are so excited to welcome
the one and only Gerald
shuttle to the RaceMob podcast.
Welcome Gerald to the podcast.
Gerald Schattle: Thank
y'all for having me.
I really appreciate the
opportunity to tell my story and
be with y'all this afternoon.
Kevin Chang: This
is so fantastic.
And the honor is all ours.
We know that you've been able
to tell a portion of your
story through runner's world
magazine, through the Kelly
and Ryan show, live on air.
But for those of our listening
audience at home, walk us
back to the origin story,
and how you got introduced
into the running world.
Gerald Schattle: So, you know,
it's funny, like my fitness
journey actually started.
In 2015, I ran my first
half marathon at 350 pounds.
Kevin Chang: Wow.
Gerald Schattle: And I
was, uh, an AP at a campus
in my school district,
uh, Lewis middle school.
And I told my staff at the
beginning of the year, I said,
Hey, I'm going to do, I'm going
to train for a half marathon.
And so I ran.
It was called the Jailbreak
Marathon or half marathon
in Baytown, Texas.
Uh, ran that as my first half.
And then I, I use that as
kind of like a, uh, game half
marathon, because I didn't know
if I was going to be able to
do it, cause I'd also signed up
for the Woodlands half marathon
And my wife, and I did
it, there at the Woodlands.
And, , so ran, ran the
Woodlands at 350 pounds.
And, , after I did it, it
was like, okay, I did it.
And it went back
to my old habits.
Cause I had gotten
down to three 50.
I was like at three 75, got
down to three 50 and then
kept going, had, uh, you know,
my daughters and everything.
And, and so basically just
life continued to go on.
I, it was just
like a box checked.
Okay.
I did something, but then
whenever I became principal,
it was my first year here
at the conceptual education
center here in all Dean.
And we're the district on
the Northside of Houston.
If you could find into
intercontinental airport, you're
in the heart of all beings.
And so basically being a
first-year leader, you got
so much stuff going on.
And , you're stressed to the
max and you're 397 pounds.
I got on the scale and I had
talked about trying to do
something and, and started stop
yo-yo at all, all these things.
But I should, I got to find some
kind of control to find some way
that I can get a handle on this.
And, and I basically
a new year's Eve.
I had a conversation with God.
I got prayed to my Lord and
savior, uh, as a Christian,
uh, and I said, Hey, I
can't do this myself.
I've tried myself.
I need your help.
And so, uh, basically I
started right hiding my
why, why was I doing this?
What was I going
to gain from this?
What's my goal.
And so basically I said, Hey,
I want to lose 200 pounds.
I said, Hey, I want to
run a full marathon.
And I just set a
series of goals.
And, uh, what I started
doing was I started
with my diet first.
Usually whenever I did these,
these fitness things, I was
doing exercise and diet,
and it was just too much
to try too many variables
to get discouraged and beat
myself up and everything.
So I said, I'm making
a lifestyle change.
And so I started identifying
myself as somebody
that healthier choices.
I started identifying myself as.
Working towards something
else, a better person, a
better version of myself.
And so I think that's
what played the biggest
factor in this journey.
Being more of a success because
you know, on it and you know, I
haven't achieved the 200-pound
weight loss I actually had.
COVID sent me back
just like everybody.
I gained weight, I got
up actually even having
a plant-based lifestyle.
I also changed that.
And I'll talk more about that,
that later, but this journey
is ongoing and that's when
you realize you're really
progressing towards something
else it's never-ending.
And, and, uh, I know that I have
an addiction it's it's food.
And that's another thing that
I've had to kind of realize is
that I do not have a positive
relationship with food.
And, uh, so having those things
written down and seeing it, and
then really leaning on my faith
and realizing that, Hey, there's
going to be ups and downs.
I can't tell you how
many times I didn't lose
weight week to week.
I gained weight week to
week, but I constantly
said, look, you're in
this for the long haul.
This is a journey you're
working towards something.
So it was easier to start back
up when I had adverse effects.
And if I.
When a week or a month,
you know, where I didn't
have a lot of success.
I knew that I had that
foundation that kept me
moving in the right direction.
So those were a lot
of things that I did.
But, uh, using that app tracker
that I use, I used to lose it
as my preferred calorie counter.
I still use it.
I listened to, uh,
Benjamin Hardy.
He's an author and, uh,
does a YouTube thing, but he
talks about basically saying
your willpower won't work
and you got to set up the
environment to be successful.
And so one of the things
I did was I put the
app on my home screen.
So it's right there.
I'm constantly seeing, just
like I got my Bible and
I got my, my lose it app
right there on my phone.
And so it's staring me in
the face, so I can't avoid it
every time I opened my phone.
Boom.
I got those things
looking at me.
And so, um, you know, that's
been part of my process.
Kevin Chang: Yeah.
I mean the followers of
their podcast and our YouTube
channel know that, uh, Coach
"B" and I also had a weight
loss challenge that we were
doing in January into the
early parts of February.
And then I was also
using the lose it app.
That was one of the things that
I was showing our audience, how
to track some of your calories.
So that is fantastic.
That that was one of those
things I know it's helped me in
the past and I know that it can
help so much of our audience.
So it's a fantastic app
that allows you to basically
track the items that you're
eating throughout the day.
It has a, a huge database of
food products on the backend.
You simply have to either scan
barcodes or type something
in and keep track of the
things throughout the day.
And oftentimes just tracking
it will help you just aware of
how many calories are in food.
What's in food, all of that,
and it can really help you
lose weight in the long run.
Gerald, I want to go back to
the decision to make a change.
And you said that it
was new year's Eve.
And that's you, you
were asking for help.
What led you to that
decision to say yes, I
need to make a change.
I need to make a lifestyle
change that I'm going to
actually do something today or
this year, or this is the actual
time for me to take action.
What was that?
Gerald Schattle: Kind of a lead
up to that conversation was
I was here at my campus and
I went into a bathroom stall,
in the students' restroom and,
and had to kind of contort my
body to get into the stall.
Cause I was too wide to like
go in and straight ahead.
And I was just like
this ain't living.
And so that kind of planted the
seed and then really start doing
the math and saying, okay, how
many acres year olds are this?
Wait, 397?
And there's, there's zero.
My father, I love him to death.
He'll be 78 in August.
And right now he weighs about
200 or 50, but he's fluctuating
his lady's a tight weight
and he's a type two diabetic.
Has, uh, you know, hypertension,
all gout, all these different
underlying health conditions.
And I see him now and, uh, he's
somebody that I've always looked
to as a pillar of strength in
everything, but, you know, these
health problems happen because
we don't make good decisions.
And I, and I, it was
kind of staring me in
the face too, with that.
I said I got to be
here for my kids.
I've got to be here
to be an example.
And I don't want my daughters
to have to experience that
the loss of a parent and
you know, my dad up and down
with his weight as well.
But, uh, it's taken a toll.
I mean, he's not as mobile
as he used to be, but I
go to these marathons and
these half marathons, I
want to be the 80-year-old.
I want to be that
guy running still.
I that's, that's why, even
if it's just the shuffle,
I want to be there.
You know, that's my mindset now.
Kevin Chang: You know, you
mentioned something that so many
of us have the good intentions
to have a healthy lifestyle
or live a healthy lifestyle.
And you actually
wrote down goals.
You actually started creating
that blueprint, that map for
how you were going to get there.
So you mentioned you're
a very busy principal.
You're a leader of a school that
is a high-stress situation where
you're spending a lot of time
working at the school that you
know, you're responsible for.
So what were the first
steps that you started to
take, you know after you
decided to make that decision
for a lifestyle change?
Gerald Schattle: So after
writing down my goals,
I, put on my computer
home screen, once again,
having those goals staring
me in the face every day.
At that point in time, I
was coming to my campus very
early 5: 30, 6 in the morning,
getting my day started because
you know, day in we have
70,000, about 70,000 kids.
And at the DAEP, you know, in
a normal year, we could have
anywhere from as low as 150
students to as many as we've
had as many as 300 students.
And so the population
fluctuates and the students
that get placed to me are
for disciplinary reasons.
And, uh, sometimes it's things
that they've you know, a
crime, they might've committed
outside of school, or they
just made a poor choice.
And it's a
discretionary placement.
They got into a fight or a
mandatory placement where they
brought drugs or something
more serious to the campus.
So, kids that have trauma, you
know, and they're not able to
cope with that the best way.
And you know, we'd like to
think that, kids are excited
to learn and everything, but
I've got kids that have stories
you know, they've overcome and
they've put in a lot of work
to get where they are but yeah,
they've just made a poor choice.
And my job is to help
support them, get them on the
right track, build them up.
And I think really, and truly my
journey is kind of in connection
with what my kids go through.
You know, asking myself to
lose 200 pounds is like telling
somebody to climb a mountain.
I grew up with both
two parent household.
Both of my parents
were educators.
I didn't have a
lot of adversity.
This weight thing has basically
been the hardest thing I've
had to deal with in my life.
And if that's the hardest
thing I've had to deal
with, I got it pretty easy.
You know, where some of my
other kids are dealing with
a lot of different things.
They're being raised by their
grandparents, or they had,
battles with, drug addiction or
whatever they're dealing with.
It's way more than
what I'm dealing with.
I'm extremely blessed.
And I have to tell me
even whenever, cause
everybody has a pity party.
And the one thing that I,
I tried to, uh, use this
journey is, I think that's
when it got a lot better was
whenever I connected my fitness
journey to my community, to
my students that I serve.
And just yesterday I was
talking with a kid and
I shared the story from
the local news with him.
And he said because we
wear the mask, he said,
I thought that was you.
I saw you on the news
this summer, but I
wasn't sure that was you.
And so, he connected the dots.
And so, uh, you know, and then
he saw the metals in the, in,
in my office and everything.
And so, you know, it's just,
it's a lot of different things.
I think just pinning down
what I've done is, like you
said, goal setting, constantly
having it at the forefront.
And making sure that I
have that mindset, that
this is a lifestyle change.
I think that's
the biggest thing.
And then also could trying to
do something bigger than myself.
Uh, you know, I set goals that
I wanted to, uh, when I did
the marathon goal, I connected
it back to my community and I
said, Hey, I want to do my long
runs in the community I serve.
And I picked strategically
the different neighborhoods
and everything that had
a connotation of being
rough or, you know, things
happening on those streets.
But when you run in the
morning, I don't care if
you're in Beverly Hills or
if you're in Houston, Texas.
At six in the morning,
there's beauty going on.
And there might've been
something last night or
there might be something
going on later yeah.
Day.
But at that point in time, six
in the morning, seven o'clock
in the morning, it's beauty.
I loved it.
And I still love it,
waking up in the morning,
just enjoying the day.
And I can't tell you
how many times I've
seen community members.
I didn't always see
students on my runs, but
my kids knew I was running.
They might've said something
to me later and said, Oh, I
heard about you running over
here and they've made the
connection or the parent we
would talk about a street
or cornerstore at church or
whatever that was in reference
to their community, their
specific area of all of them.
And I made that connection.
And so by doing all these little
things that I didn't really, you
know, now that I'm taught the
more I talk about my story, the
more I connect the dots and see
how this has all played a role
in sustaining this, journey and
keeping me going consistently
in the more that I, that I talk
about it and share my story.
I'm able to see kind of the
bigger picture of it all.
Kevin Chang: I love that.
I mean, I think that that
just speaks to the power of
community, of people holding
you accountable to your
goals and bringing that whole
circle back together to help
continue to motivate you and
other people because your
journey has motivated and
inspired so many other people.
I want to go back to, you
know, you're 397 pounds.
What are workouts looking like
for somebody of that size?
How did you scale down to be
able to make sure that you
could potentially work out,
but not get injured at that
size and not that weight?
Um, what were you
doing to start?
Gerald Schattle: Yeah, so at
397, I started tracking, lost
the way I got down to 320.
So once I got down to 320,
that was in July and I was at
my mother-in-law's and that's
what sparked the community run.
Cause my mother-in-law still
lives in Aldine she lives in
a neighborhood called Hidden
Valley and, uh, qactually
one of the old, former
superintendents of Aldine he's
in his nineties, WW Thorns, you
know, But he still lives there
at least as far as I know, he
still lived in the community.
And so I started running
and in that, having that
first-mile run, I did a run-walk
method and I said, Hey man,
Jeff Galloway, he's got it.
I figured out.
And that was the method that I
used to run my first marathon.
And I signed up for, a
USA fit marathon here in
Houston, down in sugar land.
They run it the weekend
after the Houston marathon.
And I signed up for
the eight-hour limit.
You know, I was like, I don't
know how fast I'm going to run.
And I did the run-walk method
for that, first marathon.
And that's what really
helped me stay injury free.
Kevin Chang: And explain
to our audience what
the run-walk method is.
Yeah.
Gerald Schattle: So basically
you kind of set based on
what you're capable of doing.
And I, I went and started
out running just two minutes
and then walk a minute.
And sometimes it
was two for two.
Sometimes it was five for
two, it just depended on
how I felt based on what
I felt my body could do.
And, uh, you know, I've
gotten belt, built my
stamina up and after I did
that first marathon, then I
said, okay, you're starting
back at square one again.
And I started training
where I want to
continuously run a marathon.
And so then I set myself
up for another marathon and
signed up for the Woodlands
and, uh, did that one.
And then what kept me going
was, on my running journey
was I had a buddy of mine at
church who I said, Hey, you
know, he had run the half.
I was like, brother,
Jim, you can run.
A full marathon.
He's like, you think I
was like, I'm telling you
if I can run it at close
to, you know, 300 pounds.
I said you got this man, this
is nothing walking apart.
And so we, we started running
together, uh, different,
long runs and everything.
And, uh, we ran the college
station, Bryan college station,
which is about an hour and a
half away from, uh, Houston.
We ran the BCS marathon there
in college station together.
I constantly sign up for
races to keep, keep me going
to keep me pushing and, and,
and just different things.
I try to keep it fresh.
New goals.
Keep you motivated, inspire you
and keep you pushing forward.
Now that we're sitting here
talking, by connecting with
other people in my running
journey, it's allowed me
to continue it and they
say, I'm inspiring them.
But now man, you're,
you're helping me.
You know, I told Jim, I
said, look, man, there were
days I didn't want to run.
And all my community runs, there
were times I didn't want to run.
And Mr.
Siddha Bay, one of the APS here
at my campus, uh, he's now a
program director in special ed
here in all Dean, but he went
with me on my long runs and
he's from Mali just by having
that accountability partner,
I was making built-in counter
accountability partners.
I didn't even realize it.
And my staff, they would
sit there and ask me about
my weight loss journey.
Once again, saying professing
my goal, telling people
what my goal was, another
layer of accountability, and
talking to people about it.
And I didn't realize what
was happening, but I was
setting myself up for success.
I was creating an
environment of success.
Bertrand : Wonderful, fantastic.
And we'll circle back.
We talked about that initial
half marathon journey, but
there's nothing like that
very first time toeing the
line for the marathon, all
the work you would put in.
Going circling back to that time
and that school going sideways
into the bathroom stall to the
point you're there on race day.
Take us through that very
first race day marathon
experience through your eyes.
Gerald Schattle: That morning,
I woke up and I had to drive
to Sugar Land and I'm on
the Northside of Houston.
And I got to drive all
the way down the Southside
of Houston and people
that that are from here.
You know, you're going
to drive an hour.
I don't care where
you're at Houston.
You're going to
drive you're driving.
So I had to go down to
Sugar Land and, and drive.
And, uh, there was a song
by Hillsong worship, who
you say I am was the song.
And I listened to that song
from the time I left my house
all the way down there and
it gave me a lot of comfort
and helped me connect with
my, with my Lord and savior.
And basically that whole time,
because I didn't play any music.
I ran, walked that whole deal.
And I just had that
song in my head.
It was funny.
I got to mile 20 and even
doing the run-walk method
look, man, I was like,
you gotta be kidding me.
And, uh, this lady said,
Hey, you want some, Tylenol?
And uh, I said, I sure do.
And I took, I took some Tylenol
and it got me you through.
And then, uh, you know, I
crossed the finish line.
And what was comical was,
I want to say, when I was
an AP at a hall center for
education, another campus
here in my district, me and
my wife had signed up for the
full marathon at the USA fit.
And I didn't even really train
and I only could do the half.
So I failed at it the
first time I did it.
And so then crossing the
finish line, doing this method.
I was just like, dude, man,
you, so even my failures ended
up propelling me to finish it.
And I've, I've learned to
start realizing that I'm not
a failure until I basically
say I'm done with it.
Like I just view it as a
setback and I say, okay,
okay, it's set back.
And uh, it set me
up for my comeback.
I just say, okay, I can't didn't
do it this time, but let's,
let's get after next time.
And I'll just kind of move
forward and really embracing
that process of, I don't know
if it's a, Goggin saying of
embracing the suck and, and
just kind of saying it, it is
what it is and moving forward.
Bertrand Newson: And this, the
parallels, Gerald we've talked
about several podcasts guests.
That particular distance
or training in general, but
certainly at the marathon
distance, the parallels
it has with everyday life.
And you're going to have
moments when it's a tough
day out there, you know, and
you want a helping hand, you,
you want a, an emotional aid
station and you want to stop.
Sometimes you want to turn
around and get off the course,
but you know that if you just
calm your thoughts and put one
foot in front of the other,
that good things will happen.
And that you're setting an
example for other people
who see you and see your
journey and resonate with
your journey and look how
big that your community has
grown based off your efforts.
And that you've crossed some
finish lines, but you know,
you got miles ahead of you
and people you're bringing
along in the process as well.
So, and how are the kids,
the kids, the girls, you
know, and the wife you said
is run with them as well.
Are they involved in
this wonderful journey
of yours as well?
Gerald Schattle: Yeah.
So it's, it's funny.
I've run a 5k with my youngest
daughter, my oldest who's 12.
She runs, she did cross country.
She didn't, she's
doing track now.
She did basketball.
But, uh, actually when she was
in elementary school, uh, we
ran the jailbreak together.
And, uh, I, I joke and say that
might've been child abuse cause
uh, there were times where she
wanted to quit and I said, Hey,
now we're getting this done.
And so I might've held her hand
and we just, and together, but
we did it together, you know,
and it's been a cool experience.
And I told her, I said,
you know, you got to
understand something.
Cause we ran together
a couple times.
She would go on my runs here
and in Aldein from time to time.
And I told her, I said,
look, I'm training
you to do hard things.
You gotta know that life's
not going to be easy.
Nobody's going to
give you anything.
And you've got to be able
to have that mindset that
you can do hard things.
And so a running has kind
of enhanced us as a family.
Actually, most of our
races, my kids and my
wife, haven't been there.
So, uh, this past, uh, half
marathon, uh, in the Woodlands,
they were there to cheer me on.
And my girls said, you
know, this was fun.
They made signs and my
wife, she got done, it was
me, my brother, and my two
brothers-in-law, we all ran.
They ran their first half
marathon for the first time.
They're part of my run
group, uh, champions, runners
association here in, uh,
the Northside of Houston.
And they all ran
for the first time.
And and my wife said,
y'all ran in 13.
I'm going to run a 10 K.
And so she went home and ran,
she didn't get a 10 K, but
she got five miles in and
she's, uh, she's part of the
run group too, but she said,
I'm going to run a marathon.
She says> I'm 40 years old,
You know, we, we lost my
father-in-law this year.
Um, you know, she says,
I'm just going to kind of.
Give the middle finger to
40 and say, Hey, I'm, I'm
shooting, shooting for higher
Heights and I'm getting
through, uh, adversity.
And so she's gonna run
her first marathon.
She says I'm going to do it.
And so, you know, that's,
what's amazing about this
whole deal is that we're
doing it together as a family.
We're running as part of
what we do as a family now.
And I, you know, I can tell you,
uh, you know, cause my wife has
had, you know, she's been on a
journey with her weight as well.
We she's gone plant-based with
me and she lost quite a bit of
weight and then gained it back.
And now she's like, she's doing
the app tracking and everything.
But the one thing I learned
with her and with everybody
because people did it with
me is I don't push people
to try to do what I'm doing.
I just give them the knowledge
they come and ask me.
I got a buddy, Jerry Collin.
He's run, uh, Leadville several
times and, uh, finished it
and he's got the buckle, uh, I
think he's, he's got the buckle
like three or four times and
he tells me he's like, you're
going to run a hundred miles.
And, uh, he says,
I have no doubt.
Whenever you're ready.
You'll do that.
But the one thing that I
appreciate about him is
he has been with me the
whole time and my journey.
Every time I started running,
every time I stopped, he
just kept encouraging me.
And, and he's asked me
a couple of times, well,
what do you need from me?
And I said, Hey, man,
I just need you to.
If I post a run, just like
it, just say, Hey, keep it up.
That little bit of support.
You don't realize it, but it
adds up and adds what, uh, I've
learned with my relationship
with my wife, because there's
been days where she doesn't
want to hear a lecture
from me, even though I've,
I've gone on this journey.
She's like, you've
lost so much weight.
And I don't think I can do that.
I just keep on planting seeds.
It's the same thing I do here.
I just keep planting seeds with
my kids here at the campus.
I might never see that
flower blossom, that tree
grow, but guess what?
I'm just going to keep playing
and be consistent and it's
no different than running.
You just put one foot in
front of the other and keep
pushing forward and eventually
people are going to look
over there and say, Oh, okay.
I want to be a part of that.
And that's, what's
happened with her.
She's running with my, uh,
actually my daughters, my, my
youngest daughter's teacher.
She's part of our,
our run group.
And so it's like I said, talking
about this, it's just crazy how
many connections and running
has enhanced my life, man.
It's crazy.
Bertrand Newson: Let's
talk about some of your
milestones, whether it be
distance-based time base,
where you have those goals.
We talked about, you know,
you, you, as you've written
things down and put in the
work, as you're closing
that gap in achieving those
accomplishments, what are some
of your proudest milestones?
Gerald Schattle: So my
is, was during COVID.
I ran, uh, four 50 Ks.
Wow.
I ran a four 50 Ks.
I ran a 50 K each month and
I didn't care how I got it
done, whether it was running,
whether it was walking.
I said I'm getting it done, man.
I want this, I did it with
trail races over Texas.
And I'm going to tell
you something comical.
This is how funny about goal
setting and realizing, ah, I got
to run Coach, uh, Juan Arrietta.
He works in Aldein and, uh,
he's been my run coach and,
uh, he never doubted me,
but he was like, Hey man,
your body has done a lot.
Cause after I did my 50
Ks, I signed up for 400
Ks cause I was stupid.
Kevin Chang: Next logical step.
Gerald Schattle: I
basically made a donation
to trail races over Texas.
Cause it didn't happen, man.
Bertrand Newson: We call
it the runner's high..
Gerald Schattle: And
I'm just like that.
He was, he was supportive.
He was like, Hey brother,
you, you, you want to try it?
Hey, let's, let's get after it.
And you know, Once again,
he didn't ever discourage me
and he tried to, it put me
in the best position to be
successful, but whenever I
said, Hey, I'm gonna scrap this.
He's like, okay, that's cool.
And uh, he said,
I totally agree.
And, and now, you know, my big
goal that I'm working towards
is, you know, we're in the
season of Lent and the church.
And, uh, I want to cap
off my, in Germany.
I do a devotional during
lint, uh, Mark Batterson, uh,
the 40-day prayer challenge.
I've done that during advent
and lent throughout my weight
loss journey and actually his
book, uh, the circle maker, uh,
is, was one of my inspirations
today doing a marathon.
And then after that,
yeah, that book I ran,
I read out and Welcome's
book Run Like a Pirate.
And so it was like these two
books were like, just lined up.
Both as an educator, as
an, a faith perspective.
And it was like, look, man, you
got to do this first marathon.
But now, like I said, going
back to what my next goal is,
I said, I want to run 50 miles.
And last year, about this
time during spring break,
after it, well, actually
it was after spring break.
It was during COVID.
We had just gotten.
We just go on into spring break.
We go, we shut down here in
Texas, across the country, we
shut down and, um, you know,
I ran 39 miles to support my
school day and, uh, basically
had about $500 in donations.
And for our scholarship
foundation here in Aldein,
I did about 34 miles and
I had no problem with it.
So now I want to do 50
miles because I think that's
just, I know I can do it.
And so we talked about that.
Me and Juan he's like,
okay, yeah, 11:30 pace, he's
like, you'll get it done.
And I have no doubts.
Uh, you know, we're just
going to keep pushing forward.
You know, like I said,
I've connected my
running my faith journey.
It's all part of it, man.
And, and I, I can't tell you how
much it's been a blessing to me.
Kevin Chang: That's incredible.
Talk to us a little bit about
how do you schedule the training
runs in with your busy schedule?
Because, you know, when we
walked back to the beginning
of your journey, you said,
Oh man, this is a busy guy.
It's hard to get in a workout.
Sometimes I know a lot of
our audience has difficulty
figuring out the time that it
takes to train for a marathon
or now ultras and those things.
So walk us through some tips
and things that you've learned
over time to schedule that in.
Gerald Schattle: So, uh,
basically I run most of
my stuff in the evening
after the kids go to bed.
So sometimes that means I'm
running at eight o'clock now
my wife, because she really has
understood what I'm trying to
do, and that was the progression
too, she really has taken
that on and said, Hey, you
go ahead and get the run in.
And so.
As my pace has picked up,
she knows it's going to be
anywhere from 40 minutes to an
hour, you know, give or take
the mileage and everything.
And so it's been easier to
accommodate, but most of
my runs, whenever I first
started out, man, yeah,
they were like eight o'clock
at night and you know, it
was therapy for me, man.
It was a way to decompress
from the stress, of being the
principal here at my campus.
And just like I said, my
kids have a lot of emotions,
trauma, and hearing stories
I've dealt with kids
being picked up by CPS.
I've dealt with
kids being arrested.
I've dealt with funerals, you
know, Lot of different things.
And so running those runs in
the evening and reflecting
on the day and praying about
what's going on in my life.
You know, it's really
prioritized that I tried at
the beginning of this year
to try to run early in the
morning, I get up at three
30, do that's not sustainable.
And, uh, you have to find
out what's convenient
for you to get it in.
And sometimes it's just
two miles, sometimes it's
Four miles, sometimes it's
seven miles, but however
you get that in, you've
got to find what works for
you and not be discouraged
if you miss a workout.
It's consistency is the key.
And that's what I, that's
another thing that I've really
kind of begun to understand
was how much consistency.
I had to miss two
workouts this week.
Yesterday was I, my
daughter had a track meet.
I had gotten the COVID vaccine.
I had kind of few side effects.
I'm just like, look, it's okay.
The world's not going to end.
And that's a progression too,
because there were times where
I got fanatical about it.
Like if I didn't get a
workout in, you know, but
it's a progression man.
And, and that's what
you have to realize.
This whole deal is another
layer of progression.
And as you develop, you
start developing a comfort
level and, and uh, you figure
it out how to schedule it.
But if you're committed
to it, you're going to
find a way to do it.
Cause I'm going to tell you all
the time, your mind is going to
consistently make up an excuse
in your head or when it's,
when it's warm out inside the
bedroom and it's cold outside.
Oh man, you're going
to make up an excuse.
And what's funny is during the
winter storm here in Texas, a
man, I still got outside and
ran and it might've been ice.
It might've been snow,
but Hey, guess what?
We're getting it in.
That's just my mindset now,
you know, but like I said,
it's a progression, but I
still get days where even after
all these years of running
now, I'm like, Oh man, it'd
be nice just to lay here.
Yeah, no.
Kevin Chang: If you like our
podcast and sign up for our
newsletter, where we give you
weekly tips on how to run your
best race and have fun in the
process, just go to RaceMob
dot com and sign up today.
Bertrand Newson: From
a coach's perspective.
And as an athlete, when during
your journey, you felt that
you reached out to get, um,
an experienced coach and why,
and how's that been, you know,
maybe a potential game-changer
for you because you found, you
know, you were an athlete and
you played college football,
you know how to get up and put
in the work you're methodical,
but where did you decide?
You know what, I'm ready to.
Reach out and see things
through a coach's eye.
Gerald Schattle: So I
wanted to run the cow town
ultra that's in Fort worth.
And cow town has the half
marathon marathon, and then
they do an ultra this year.
They've had to shift it
because of COVID it's
going to be in May, but
they're not doing the ultra.
But, uh, I wanted to do that.
And I said I gotta get
somebody to help me out.
And Juan, we had
developed a friendship.
He never really talked
to me about coaching.
He told me he was a coach,
but he didn't talk to me
about coaching, we did some,
just some runs together.
And we went on the Buffalo Bayou
trails, uh, through downtown.
It goes from Memorial park
down all the way into the
heart of downtown Houston.
And, uh, we did a couple of
runs together on Saturdays and.
Overtime.
Um, you know, I just one day
called him up and said, Hey
man, would you be my coach?
And he says, Oh yeah,
sure, no problem.
And so once again, planting
seeds, he invested in me not
expecting anything in return.
And guess what?
It built a relationship.
And I've had a coaching
relationship with him now going
on over a year and we're going
to continue that relationship.
After I ran the half
marathon, he said, okay,
what's your next goal?
And I said, Hey, man, I
want to do these 50 miles.
He's like, okay, let's get it.
And, um, you know, we
started planning that out.
Bertrand Newson: How does
a sample week look for you?
Gerald Schattle: We used to
do, um, training peaks, but now
we've started using final surge.
He's used that with me.
So he tries to have progressive
runs on a Monday and then
usually gets her my Tuesdays off
and then I'll run on Wednesday.
I'll have like an easy
run at five miles.
Thursday I'll do another run.
Uh, usually kinda basically
a longer run or some type.
Uh, sometimes it's seven miles.
Sometimes it's six miles
that Friday we used
to do an easy four.
And then with our run group,
I run anywhere from eight to
whatever mileage, but I run
usually on my long runs now
because my capacity is built up.
I usually run about
eight, at least eight
miles on my long runs.
Uh, even if I'm not
training for anything, I'm
just, I'm just getting it.
Yeah.
Kevin Chang: And do you
do strength training?
Gerald Schattle: I need
to incorporate that, but
once again, it's time.
So I just started
doing, lunges, squats,
things like that.
Just bodywork, uh, stretching.
My hip and my IT band started
giving me some trouble.
Uh, and I've realized that
look, man, you're not doing
enough legwork work, you know,
and it's basically, I'm just
overcome Satan certain things.
And so, uh, I just, I
need to strengthen my
legs all the way around.
And so I've started
incorporating that and he's won
is actually incorporated that
in, but I got lazy because I
was doing, uh, I was like, Oh
man, I'm done with the run.
But now I realized if you're
paying the man to coach you,
you gotta listen to the coach.
And I said that's another
thing that I'm learning too.
It's, it's all progression.
And that's what I
appreciate about Juan.
He doesn't beat me up, you
know, he tells me, okay,
I noticed she didn't then
do this everything good.
And he just does little
check-ins, you know, This week.
I told them, you know,
these two times I didn't,
I didn't run this week.
Uh, he said, cool, thanks
for letting me know.
And like I said, I think
that's the, uh, the good
part about our relationship
is it's not high pressure
is not going to browbeat me.
Uh, he's just going to tell
me, like, look, if you don't
put in the work, you know, what
the result is, it's just pretty
straightforward, you know?
Kevin Chang: Yeah.
I mean, I love a number
of different things
that you've talked about
here in the segment.
Um, and I just want to
highlight a couple of
them for our audience.
One around long-term benefits,
long-term performance, rather
than the short term, you know.
A lot of us just think
about, Oh, how am I going
to get better tomorrow?
And we just want immediate
gratification, but it
really is the long game.
Some of these things take a
long time to build up your
body to build up there is
periodization and other things.
That you just have to
build into, and it's the
work over the long haul.
So, I mean, I'm sure if
you compared your work this
year compared to a year ago,
two years ago, I mean, look
what your body can do now
that it probably wasn't able
to do all those years ago.
Right.
The other thing I want to
point out is the structure
of the workouts, and
being able to follow a
structure, follow a plan.
Have long runs certain
days have shorter runs
potentially a little bit
speedier work on some days.
And, you know, having a plan,
having a structure to the plans,
not just every day, you just go
out and just do the same run.
Having some of that
structure will help
you reach goals, right.
And making sure that you know,
what your goals are that coach
can help you kind of plan
out, understand what that
plan and that structure should
be so that you can actually
reach goals in the long-term.
So loved what you talked about.
Loved just pulling out a
couple of those nuggets and
wanted to highlight some of
them for our audience as well.
There are a couple of things
that I want to make sure
we have time to get into.
One of them is around diet and
the food that you're eating.
We know that you've moved
to a plant-based diet.
Wanted to, rewind back
to the time that you
did lose 77 pounds.
Between January and July.
And we know that that's
something that a lot of our
audience struggles with.
So talk to us a little
bit about that journey.
Was it difficult?
Was it hard?
What happened along the way?
Gerald Schattle: You know,
I've kinda had heard a little
bit about, you know, I walked,
watched a documentary forks over
knives and whenever I was bigger
as an AP, I actually tried one
day to go vegan and I was like,
this sucks and I can't do it.
And, but once again, it was
planting a seed in my head.
And, uh, it was in 2019 lint.
My wife.
And I said, Hey, we're
going to give up meat.
And I said, well,
no, I'm going to go.
vegan.
So by doing that once again,
connected my faith to this
journey, I, uh, you know,
constantly had that in my mind.
And so at that point, I
was like 290 and then the
wages started going down.
And it was September of 2019.
I got down to two 30.
And the funny thing is, and
this is what people have
to realize in this journey.
And I didn't realize
it until now.
I started connecting the dots
is when you lose all this
weight, people are going to
say, don't lose any more weight.
You, you, you look great.
Don't lose any more weight.
Oh, you're starting
to look sick.
And so these people,
it doesn't matter.
If you're big, they never
said anything to you, but
you've lost all this weight.
And because you don't look
like the way they thought
you should, should look, or
they identified you with,
it's hard for them to accept.
And so I took that and I
didn't realize it, but that's
when I started ticking back
up and my weight started
ticking back up a little bit.
And I started kind of like, I
was still plant-based but little
things I stopped tracking.
And that's when I started
that slide where I started
going back into bad habits
and I started realizing it.
So it wasn't until the COVID
pandemic of spring break I
got back up to about two 50
and I was like, Oh, okay.
No big deal.
Well then COVID, isolation at
home, even though I was running
and I was still running a lot,
but I wasn't eating healthy.
I was still trying to do
plant-based but still, you
can eat vegan junk food.
Oreos are vegan, man.
I mean, come on.
And so it's like, dude,
there's, there are tons.
If you want to find
junk, you can find junk.
It, it doesn't matter.
You know, that's
what happened to me.
And I went to give blood
back in December and I
was like, I was 280 man.
I was like, you
gotta be kidding me.
And so I was like, I
gotta do something.
I was still running
and it did not matter.
And everybody's like, Oh man,
you don't even look that big.
And that was the funny thing,
even though I was fit and
my clothes still, you know?
Yeah.
They were a little bit
tighter, but it was crazy
how my body adjusted to the
new weight and everything
and, and that activity.
But, uh, I've gone back.
I said, Hey man, go back to
putting it in the, in the,
in the plan, putting it back.
And so I went back
to doing the lose it.
And, uh, once again, the
weight's fallen off again and
it's just, like I said, part of
this journey and a plant-based
is, is for me, my recovery.
That's what works for me.
I tell everybody, Hey,
you know, I got a brother.
He says he loves keto Great.
That's what works for you,
whatever works for you.
That's great.
But for me and what I know,
I've recovered 10 times
better on a plant-based diet.
whenever I run, yeah.
I have a little bit of
soreness, but in my be for
a day or two, and then I'm,
I'm, I'm ready to rip and.
Whenever I was consuming a
lot of meat, a lot of dairy
I'd be sore for a lot longer.
I just felt like my body didn't
perform as well, but it's worked
extremely well for me, you know?
So that's been a
good progression.
Kevin Chang: And we have
to thank Adam Welcome for
connecting the two of us.
We know that Adam also
plant-based Vegan diets.
And that has helped him
tremendously in his recovery.
Um, we had him on the show
not too long ago as well.
And I love it what you said
right there is junk food.
There's vegan, junk food.
There's keto junk food.
There's junk food
across the board.
And so you have to know
is what works for you?
What diet works for you?
What plans work for you?
We know that we had Tony
Julian on the podcast,
not too long ago and a cut
the crap challenge for us.
And w w has really worked
for, um, many of our
audience members is really
controlling blood sugar levels.
And if you can find ways to
reduce the amount of sugar,
especially the simple sugars
in your diet, you can sometimes
say, stay satiated for longer
and really help reduce a lot
of the body's inflammation
and other pieces as well.
So we've seen a lot of success
with that, but again, you have
to figure out what works for
you and your diet and your
lifestyle, whatever works best.
So I love that
nutrition part of it.
So do you have, I guess,
diet goals, weight loss goals
for the balance of 2021?
Gerald Schattle: So, uh,
I, I kind of adjusted
my weight loss goal.
I want to get down to two 15.
I feel like two 15 is a
sustainable weight for me.
It's an attainable
weight for me.
And I feel like that I will be
able to function high level.
And it's something that in
my lose it app, you know,
and that's what I love about
it tells you about how many
days it's going to take you.
And it says, you know, 149
days to my goal, it says
that, you know, I'm two 57
right now, 137 pounds lost.
I'm cool.
And I told my wife, cause
she was like discouraged.
She's like, it seems it's
going to take too long for me
to get to my weight loss goal.
I said, Misty, I can tell
you right now when I started
doing this, lose it app.
It told me I was 500
something days to my goal.
I said it's the little steps.
And as time goes, that number
is going to drastically change.
As you lose weight faster,
that number's going to change.
And so I said, it's not static.
It's going to adjust.
And so there might be weeks
that you get on the scale,
the weight doesn't move,
but then the next week you
lose five, seven pounds.
And you're like, what?
I didn't even do anything.
So you got to have the long
game mindset, that's the deal.
And I think I'm glad that I
had this setback of gaining
weight so that now I can see
that the only way it goes
back to is the tried and true
principles, setting up my
environment to have success
and habit at the forefront.
And that's what I'm doing.
Kevin Chang: Talk to us about
portion control as well.
Cause I'm assuming that you've
kind of had to deal with portion
control and what you're putting
Gerald Schattle: on the plate.
Yeah.
So that's another good
thing about the plant-based
deal is I actually kind of
get bigger portions, you
know, whenever I do that.
But one of the things that
I was, I had a bad habit
about doing as a principal
was I was skipping lunch.
And for me, I started to
realize, like, you know,
I was having breakfast and
I was skipping lunch and
I was totally hungry for
dinner and I would overeat.
So now I've actually
changed it up.
I do basically intermittent
fasting where I don't eat
until about anywhere from
10 30, one 11 o'clock.
And then I use, the
meal service.
Uh, what is it?
Veestro?
And those plant-based meals
help me have that portion
control that's one way,
the easy way to do it.
And then when we plan our
dinner, me and my wife, we
just basically, uh, try to
make sure that we do things
that are gonna fill us
up, but not be, too big.
And we just ride
it out, you know?
And, uh, sometimes, you know,
we're a fast-moving family, you
know, w we might go to Chipotle
or something and pick the
plant-based options, but I mean,
it is what it is, but, That's
better than the other option
that we were doing, which was
going to water burger and, uh,
you know, eating fries and a
big old a double whatever so...
Bertrand Newson: Any favorite
vegan recipes you want to share
staples, so you don't have to
get the recipe necessarily,
but things that have really
worked for you that have
failed you up, but you look
forward to, and that are good.
Gerald Schattle: Yeah.
I really like, uh,
sweet potatoes.
My wife doesn't like sweet
potatoes, but I mean, you can
do so much with sweet potatoes.
I've had tacos, I've had
floated sweet potatoes where
you put guacamole, black beans,
corn, just like tons of stuff.
You know, I like the TexMex
flavor here and, uh, you
know, you can make it, man.
It's just good.
I'm kind of a simple guy.
I'll eat the same thing
three days in a row.
My wife's looking at me like,
what, what is wrong with you?
I don't care if
it gives me value.
And, and if I got to eat
sweet potatoes three days
out the week, I don't care.
You know, that's just me.
But, uh, my wife, she's got to
have a little bit more variety,
so she'll, she'll look at the
forks over knives cookbook,
or she'll look in different
recipes, uh, different Pinterest
posts and stuff like that.
And she'll say, Hey,
I want to try this.
I don't think we really
have a staple, but, uh,
we just kinda make it
work, make it work for us.
Bertrand Newson: Hey, Kevin
and I we love, we love food.
We love to talk about food and
our relationship with food.
Um, and you're in the
great state of Texas.
Beef and Barbecue.
How are you navigating?
And were you a fan
of barbecue before?
Do you miss it now?
And, um, you know, is there a
way that you're able to, if you
do love it or have loved it,
to kind of compensate for that
grilled smoky, savory taste?
Gerald Schattle: Yeah.
I love barbecue sauce.
So a lot of times, uh, I
might add it to different
meals and things like that.
But, uh, there is actually a,
uh, food truck here in Houston.
It's called a Houston
sauce company.
And, uh, they have plant-based
options that they have bloated,
baked potatoes, different
things, and we've tried it.
It's really good, but you
know, that's not, once again,
it's, it's not something you
can go, you're not going to
lose weight on eating baked
potatoes and everything.
And they're all, everybody's
like, Oh, well it's vegan.
Yeah.
But it is what it is, you know?
So.
As far as missing barbecue,
you know, no, I don't miss it.
I mean like, my life is 10 times
better than I was when I was
397 and that's the whole deal.
Like people say, would
you, I can't give this up.
I'm like, look, man, I'm lucky
that I got ahead of this before
I was 40 because you see so
many people with Coach, Hey,
I caught COVID right before,
uh, we came back to school and
I don't wish that on anybody.
And, um, I was able, because
of my lifestyle change,
I was extremely blessed.
I had mild symptoms.
I had a slight cough,
achy, things like that.
If I can tell you hands
down, if I hadn't done this
lifestyle change, I'd be dead.
I'd be dead.
And then we've lost
too many people.
And it's because of our diet
in America and because of
choices, we're not making
choices to help our families.
And.
You know you got to
make that sacrifice.
That's the thing that I've, I've
learned from this is because
I made those little sacrifices
and it's little in comparison.
Cause I bounced back.
I mean, uh, you know, I've been,
like I said, extremely blessed.
Kevin Chang: That's ncredible,
and you continue to inspire
the community and you continue
to inspire, family members,
people in the community,
and kids and students.
so talk to us a little
bit about, we know that
you've done runs around
your school district.
We've known that you've
done runs to help
inspire the students in
your school district.
We know that your school
district is very diverse.
School district as well.
So talk to us about inspiring
others because of this health
journey that you've been on.
Gerald Schattle: I'm still
trying to get comfortable
talking about, you know,
when people say, man,
you're so inspiring.
look, man.
I just view myself as a kid from
Houston and, and uh, you know,
I, I, I wanted to go running and
I made these choices and in the
process of, I built some good,
good quality relationships.
And when it goes
back to running.
And how I wanted to
impact my community.
I just wanted to connect
with my kids cause it's
big about relationships.
You know, I constantly say,
if you can find some kind of
commonality, you're going to be
able to make a connection with
somebody and it could be music.
It could be books,
it could be religion.
It could be, you've got
to find that commonality
and you gotta be able to
have a conversation and.
One of the things that I pride
myself on is one thing about
being the principal here.
It takes time for kids
to open up to you.
So I've had kids that
might cuss me out one day.
And the next day we're
sitting here talking
about life decisions and
choices and everything.
And they realize I'm not
going to take it personally.
I'm not going to
get in my feelings.
I want, I really,
truly want to help you.
And it goes back to
my faith journey.
I constantly try to love
my neighbor as myself.
I kind of try to constantly try
to model that I'm not perfect.
Like I said, I'm a
work in progress.
That's what's really helped me.
I told Adam on his podcast.
I said, you know, if I wasn't
the principal of this campus, I
don't know what type of person
I'd be, cause I'd probably still
be the same guy of 397 pounds.
and not having a
strong connection with
my Lord and savior.
I, like I said, this campus
being the principal here,
the relationship I built with
kids, my staff man, it's, it's
impacted me so much, you know,
as a leader, as a father.
And, um, you know, as an
educator, I, I learned so
much just day in and day
out the interactions with
the kids, what my staff
does to support the kids.
They go above and beyond, you
know, it's just a Testament
to what, what we're about
and my campus and, uh, you
know, it's been awesome.
It's been awesome to serve.
Kevin Chang: Have you inspired
any runners from your students?
Gerald Schattle: You know, I've
had athletes here at my campus,
you know, they made a poor
choice and they go back and,
and, you know, we've connected
after they graduate, you know,
and they, they talk about you
know, running and everything.
And I've got foot former
football players because I used
to be a coach, a football coach,
and I've got players that say,
Hey, I want to meet up and run.
And, and we, you know,
try to connect me to that.
Uh, I've run with some of my
former players, and, uh, you
know, it's just a cool thing.
You know, once they see the
story, they're like, man,
coach, I need to get back in
shape and we talk about it.
And then, like I said, again,
planting seeds, talking to folks
and I say, Hey, you let me know
when you're ready to go run.
And we go, you know, we try
to knock out some miles.
Kevin Chang: And you mentioned
that you had like run
around different parts of
your County, part different
parts of your community.
Talk to us about that.
Like running journey of,
you know, seeing different
parts of the community.
Gerald Schattle: one of the
things that I wanting to do,
my marathon journey, I wanted
to pick different areas is of
the Aldein community that maybe
had a negative connotation
and run in that area.
And so I would pick streets
or neighborhoods and I would
do my long runs there, but
I was also trying to connect
to for campuses and Aldein
has sidewalks in some areas,
some areas they don't.
And so I was running just kind
of in the, on the side of the
road and we're a big city.
And so that, that wasn't always
the safest bet, but, uh, I
ran down, uh, FM 1960, which
runs across one side from 45
all the way to 249 and keeps
on going, um, even to 290.
I've ran all over the
place and basically.
Just doing those runs made
me have a deeper connection
with the community, made me
appreciate where I came from.
I grew up in the Northside of
all Dane, but my father drove
a school bus and he taught.
And, uh, so he drove
in and what's called
acres homes, community.
It's on the Northside of Houston
and it was a historically
black community, uh, here
we're South of Houston.
And actually, my school district
had to be desegregated, had
to have a court order because
we were not serving the
students properly basically.
And so the court order said,
Hey, you have to desegregate.
So they took, the student
was from the borders Ville
community, which is on the
Northside of the day district
and acres homes community and
they made sure, sure that those
students got bused to different
parts of the school district.
So anchors homes, they divided
up into four quadrants.
Some went to Nimitz.
Some went to all deans, senior
high school, some went to
MacArthur high school, and some
went to Eisenhower high school.
my dad, taught at Nimitz and
we went to Nimitz and that's
the first, this part of our
district for this point North.
And, uh, those students are,
I rode my dad's bus from
the time I was in the third
grade until the time I was
in the, uh, the 10th grade.
And I'd wake up at
four in the morning.
So that's where I developed
my habit of waking up early.
I wa I've been waking up at four
in the morning since I was in
third grade and it's helped me
on my running journey so it's
like, it's like nothing to me.
So waking up, I saw these
kids have to get up and
ride a bus 20 minutes to
go get their education.
And, uh, I also saw kids
that didn't look like me,
build a relationship with
my father and love him
the same way I loved him.
And, uh, you know, he drove
that route for 23 years and
I can't tell you how many
times I've had kids that
rode his bus reach out to me.
I serve some of the kids, their
own children here at my campus.
And because of the
relationship he had, it
unified us right away.
You know, I've had parent
conferences where we sit there
and start talking and one thing
leads to another and there's
a connection back to my dad.
And they look at their
child and they say, Mr
Schattle, I got this.
And they, stopped believing
whatever their child told them
and they realize, you know, Mr.
Schattle is going
to take care of you.
But once again, that's,
that's how God works.
He shows us how that
progression, like I
said, Third grade.
I was waking up at
four in the morning.
Now I'm a runner.
I'm waking up at four 35 in the
morning to go do a long run.
And you know, it's just
part of the journey.
It's been awesome.
Bertrand Newson: Thank
you for sharing that.
One thing that Kevin and I
talk about, with our athletes
and people in our fitness
community is everybody wants
to be a happier and healthier
version of themselves, but
it's just tough for a lot of
people to take that first step.
And when you were at that
crossroads in the bathroom,
half the school, I'm
at nearly 400 pounds to
where you are right now.
What advice can you give
somebody else that's
at that crossroads in
their life right now?
Gerald Schattle: Take the step,
take the step and embrace it.
And yeah, you're
gonna you're going to
experience some suffering.
You're going to
experience some pain.
And you're going to experience
a lot of doubt, but pushing
through the doubt and coming
out on the other side, makes
it all worth it, man, because
especially here in America,
we got things first world
problems all the time, man,
we think we don't have wifi
in our world ended, you
know, and I think that my
journey with running and diet.
And all this adversity and going
through it has had it helped me.
And I think that's what you
have to realize when you're
wanting to start this, know
that it's going to be tough and
say, okay, I'm okay with that.
And when you have a
setback, you realize,
Hey, get yourself back up.
Nobody said it was going
to be easy, you know?
Uh, and that's what, that's how
I shifted my mindset because I
started stopped all the time.
But the difference this
time was, I said, it's
a lifestyle change.
And I started to make sure that
I identified myself as a runner.
I started making
choices as a runner.
And while I'm doing this
journey, I'm reading, I'm
reading books to fortify
me and give me knowledge
and get helped me.
I'm listening to pod Kevin,
I'm trying everything I
can to start changing.
That old identity and
shaking it off and trying
to go into this new person
I'm wanting to become.
I'm wanting to be
an impactful leader.
I'm wanting to be
a better father.
I'm wanting to be
a better husband.
I'm wanting to grow spiritually.
I'm doing all these
things consistently, and
it's a lot of work, man.
And, uh, I can tell you, my
staff, we've gone on a journey.
Uh, as a progression, when
I first got here, you were
learning people, you're building
relationships and everything.
They had to learn
and grow in that.
This year we had to grow
tremendously because we had
a low, student enrollment.
And, my staff had to go to
other things, campuses to
serve the Aldein you know.
And, uh, as kids have
come back, we've increased
our teacher population.
But having that conversation
and saying, Hey, you're part of
my team, but I need you to go
over here and serve over here.
That was a tough conversation
because they were like,
You know, some of these
people who've been here
10, 15 years, they've
only been at this campus.
And so it's like,
you're basically jumping
over their Applecart.
Right.
And, uh, you know, I didn't
really understand it at the
time, but as I've gone on
through this year, we've seen
the benefit of it because
I'll tell you every day I
have the best staff, the
best teachers, and this whole
experiences highlighted how
much staff cares for kids.
And they're doing awesome
things across Aldein and
helping kids grow during this
pandemic because they know how
to serve the kids that, that
really need quality teachers.
And, um, you know, they know
how to build relationships
with reluctant learners.
Because if you're not on, uh,
excited about serving kids,
you can't work in my campus
it's just not going to work.
The kids know.
If you're not passionate
about them, they know if
you don't care about them
and they can pick it out.
And even whenever they have
self-sabotaging behavior
and they try to have poor
interactions with you, my
teachers know how to come
back the next day and build
that relationship again.
You know, we do community
building circles every
Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday at my campus.
Uh, I don't know if y'all
are familiar with restorative
practices or restorative
justice, but basically, the
community building circles is
what enhances that practice.
So you're using the restore or
circles as an alternative to
suspension and removing kids
from classrooms, but you're also
making them tank accountability.
So through these circles,
you're, uh, communicating
how you harmed the
community, how you impacted
the learning environment.
And really, uh, I had a student
get upset, punched one of mine
Fire extinguisher cabinets.
We had a community-building
circle and a with the
teacher, with the students
that got involved with it.
And, uh, sometimes those
kids would have been just
suspended, but we actually
talked about what that did
by damaging that cabinet.
It damaged the cosmetics
of the campus, it damaged
the learning environment.
The kids, once we talked all
about that and explained it,
and they realized what their
role was, it was in it, and
how it impacted our teacher.
They realize the bigger picture.
It's not just about me,
it's about this community.
And so those were
different things.
Once again, going back to the
community, those are just some
of the things that we do here,
Kevin Chang: That's incredible.
And we applaud what you do
with your community, with your
kids, with your students, and
helping to build that community.
Not only within your school,
which is clear and evident.
The empathy that you have
for your faculty, for your
kids, for wanting to see their
success, but also starting to
build that community as well
with other runners and your
family and your family members
and getting them involved,
in a healthy lifestyle.
And we just want to say,
first of all, thank you for
sharing a portion of your
story with our audience.
Um, you have inspired so many
of us to make sure that we're
getting out there and that
we're making the best out of
every single day that we've got.
And I just want to say, this is
just the beginning of the story.
We look forward to hearing about
your adventures throughout 2021
throughout, you know, the goals
that you have set for yourself.
We are going to hold you
accountable for those goals
and make sure that the finish
line on your 50 milers,
so we will be checking in
with you and make sure that
you're hitting those goals.
And if there's anything that we
can do and our community can do
to help you reach your goals.
Do you feel free to reach out
and let us know, and we're just
going to listen to your journey.
And again, you can
hold us accountable
for our goals as well.
so I think that's the beauty
of this whole thing is that
we can all grow as a community
and learn from each other.
So thank you again so
much, Gerald, for joining
us on the RaceMob podcast.
Where can our listeners
reach out to you if they
have questions or where they
want to ask you a question?
Gerald Schattle: Sure.
Uh, I'm on Twitter at a
G W S Schattle S C H A
T T L E two eight one.
And then I'm on Instagram
at Run With Schattle.
Kevin Chang: Awesome.
Incredible.
Well, thank you again
so much, Gerald.
And we will be in touch.
Gerald Schattle: Yes, sir.
Appreciate it..
Bertrand Newson: Great stuff.
Kevin Chang: Well, I hope
you enjoyed this episode
of the RaceMob podcast.
Check out all of the show notes.
Or find a running buddy
online at RaceMob dot com.
Please subscribe to us on
Apple, Spotify, Stitcher,
or wherever you listen to
your podcasts and leave us
a review until next time.
Keep on moving.