Hey Sam, welcome, how are you doing over there in sunny Los Angeles?
In all honesty it is a really epic time in Los Angeles and in the united states. We are navigating through both a health pandemic and a civil revolution of historic proportions. some days are heavy with emotion and uncertainty, but through it all i am doing okay, doing my best, and feeling really grateful to experience it all.
Were you born and raised in LA ? What's your favorite thing about the city, I'm a huge fan ..
Yes, I was born and raised in LA! my favorite things about my city are the sunshine, the palm trees, and the incredible diversity.
Have you ever been to Paris on tour? What was your impression of it, are we nice, the French?
I’m lucky to have been to Paris many times, for tours, for fashion week, and for leisure! the music scenes are thriving, and Paris is one of my favorite cities to run in. I’m not sure if you've ever noticed, but Paris also has the best clouds in the sky, the kinds you only see in paintings.
Tell us more about you and your background so to speak, should I introduce you as a singer / Dj? Because it looks like you do much more than that and that you've done many different things before being labelled as a musical artist right ?
I’m a DJ and singer, and co-founder of an R&B party called "143." as you suggested yep my resume is pretty long and full of different past careers. I’ve worked in advertising, fashion PR, and was a professional backup dancer in music videos right out of university. all of the twists and turns in my background have really informed what i do today!
Ok so what about fitness? How did you start getting into running or made the transition or addition from fitness to running?
ah, the fitness! I’ve always been very active - i played sports as a kid, was a dancer, have never been a stranger to the gym. but as i started touring more frequently for DJ'ing, i found that my health was quickly devolving into irregular sleep patterns from time zone hopping, the drinking and late-night eating after gigs, no time or space to exercise. and that left me feeling sluggish and always very out of sorts. I hit my limit one night in Hong Kong and vowed to get my wellness in check. I went back home to LA and found an awesome personal trainer to teach me how to balance my nutrition and exercise with my demanding travel schedule. I’ve learned so much and in taking the time to focus on this area of my life, all the other areas of my life improved too.
as for running, I always hated running and thought of it as a boring chore. I’d throw on aggressive rap music and hit the ground running and 1.5-2 miles in I’d burn out and be frustrated - the way I was running was just never fun. in November of 2019 my friend nick suggested I try the Nike running club app's "guided run." I took him up on the challenge, doing coach Bennett’s "first run."
this guided run changed my entire mind set for running, it was all about being kind to your body and feeling relaxed. the music for the guided run was a melodic jazzy instrumental, a complete switch up from the way I had been running in the past. I ran relaxed to mellow music and 4 miles later I felt that I could keep going forever. So, from that run I was transformed and addicted to that good feeling ever since!
How often do you run, are you tied to a specific schedule or training program?
I run 4-5 times a week. I'd say 3 runs are 3-5mile recovery runs, 1 run is a shorter speed run, and 1 run is focused on distance or time. I’m still a newbie and constantly exploring and trying new things, it's been fun to learn all the different aspects of the sport.
I've seen on your Instagram that you were training for the Nike half before it got cancelled, but you ran a half on your own in the end! Any future goals when things will start looking better?
Yes, I was! I was training with Nike coaches too, shout out coach blue and coach Becc, and they put together a training program for our half marathon group. we made it through about 10 of the 12 weeks before the half marathon got cancelled, so a few of my friends decided to continue with the training and see it all the way through. I would love the chance to run an official half marathon with Nike. I’d also love to be able to run the full Athens marathon, run where it all began. another running goal is to qualify for the Boston marathon.
What really keeps you motivated in running?
my two motivations for running are to relax and learn. the other areas of my life are full of demands and deadlines and ambition to succeed. running is my sacred space where my only expectations for myself are to enjoy and learn more about myself and the sport. I’m not aiming to be the fastest runner or the best runner, I like to say that I’m always running at my happy pace and that's enough for me.
Favorite post-run cheat meal or post-run guilty pleasure?
a big bowl of pasta or pizza!
What are you running with? Shoe-wise.
My two favorite running shoes are the Nike zoomx next percent, and the Hoka one one Clifton 4.
Tell us your favorite running route, in LA or elsewhere.
absolutely the beach. running down Playa del Rey to Manhattan beach.
If you go with music, or for someone who does: Give us one song to start your run with and one song for when you feel exhausted and the legs starts feeling heavy.
Sunday service choir - rain
Jamie xx - gosh
Would you be down to perform and bring the vibes to a cheering zone for the LA marathon?
Yes!