The Journey: Thomas Llaurado

I’m originally from Milwaukee. I used to be a teacher and a school leader. I moved to Chicago, made my way back to Milwaukee and then went out to New York. I moved here in 2019, six months before the pandemic started. I had a group of friends here who I knew from college, but when the pandemic hit, everybody’s world became super small. It became even smaller when I was suddenly laid off from my job in the fall of 2021.

I suddenly found myself with a bunch of free time. The only thing to do to get out of the house was run, so that became my life for the next few months. I started going to a different running group or club in New York every day. I think I was just looking for a way to have a positive routine, not a destructive one. Running became the anchor in my life. I had something to look forward to every day, and I could see and feel that I was in a more positive and hopeful mental space after running.

I live in Brooklyn, and there was a running club that met Tuesday mornings called Goldfinger Track Club. I started running with them. GFTC’s founder, Jerry Francois, took me under his wing and was the first person to show me how to actually train for a race. On Wednesday nights there was a group that met on the Lower East Side called Bridgerunners, which was just a great way to see New York. We were on our feet running across the city, visiting different art installations. The founder, Mike Saes, would lead us on tours of quintessential New York landmarks, restaurants and bars. He would begin each run by saying, “Expect the unexpected,” which became a phrase that stuck with me as I continued to try to build a life here.

Each day of the week, I was able to learn from and build new relationships with folks across the running community in New York City. I formed so many new friendships with people who were also training for half-marathons and marathons. I had run a few marathons back when I lived in Chicago, but never with anybody. I always trained on my own. I suffered through it and eventually injured my hip. This was a very different experience, where I was forming a new coalition of people who were accountability partners.

I also met my partner, Sashah. She’s a hugely positive influence in my life. She's a Nike running coach and a fitness instructor at Barry’s. We found running at similar times. We went to Paris last year to run the marathon. Just having somebody that I wake up to every morning, who’s also kicking ass in that way makes me think “OK, I’ve got to get my stuff together."

These groups opened up a vast community of amazing people who are now friends and even family. I think that anytime you’re in a situation with other people, doing a pretty hard thing, when you’re in a crucible moment with someone, just suffering through stuff, there’s a connection. Then you add to that things like signing up for a race together, setting milestones that you can work toward and check in with each other on. Like, “Oh, you’re doing the Chicago Marathon? So am I. Let's do a track workout together, or let's do this long run together. I haven’t run 20 miles. Can you do that with me?” I met some of my best friends because we were training together at the same track. We were sweating in 90-degree heat in July. It’s this whole new ecosystem, sharing your own experience with one another.

It’s also a genuinely positive space, where if somebody else just crushes their marathon goal, that’s almost better than me achieving my own. When Sashah and I were in Paris in 2024, we had a little competition of who can run a faster race. In Chicago in 2023, I finally broke three hours, and she had a not-so-great race. We celebrated a “household personal record.” But then fast-forward to Paris, and she had had a great two-month training block and was really ready to crush it. We were running together, and I could just tell that she had something in the tank that I didn’t. I saw her run away from me, and I was having a crappy race. I was like, “Go for it.” I had some hip issue going on, and then at mile 18, I thought she should probably have finished, so I was texting her, “Hey, did you finish?” And she said she got a 2:57. She finally broke three hours. I started tearing up and was crying as I was finishing the race.

Sharing in that experience of somebody working so hard — when you see it, you see somebody putting in the work, you see somebody spending so much time and energy working toward this goal — and they get it, that’s just so awesome. Seeing your friends do awesome things is a really cool part of the space and the sport. You don’t need to be a professional athlete to be a part of it, and you don't need to be a professional athlete to work toward something that you didn't think you could do.

The education industry can be stressful at times, and running has definitely become an outlet for me. Even if the day is wild, I know I’m going to set aside time to go out and run. Even if it's rainy, even if it’s crappy out, I know I need to do that. So other than therapy, running is probably the best tool in my toolbox in terms of keeping my internal balance when it comes to mental and physical health.

I drink AG1 every day, and I’ve noticed a huge difference. I make an effort to eat fruits and vegetables and maintain a healthy diet, but I know I’m not always getting all the nutrients I need and I know AG1 helps me close those gaps. I like having the daily start of all the great stuff that’s in AG1. I almost have a craving for it in the morning now, because it’s really something that my body has benefited from. Also just training for marathons and working out and having that be a part of the “pre-covery” and recovery has been another tool in the toolbox that I use to stay healthy during a training block. In weeks 12, 14 and 15 leading up into a marathon where the mileage is high and you’re starting to really feel the toll, AG1 has really come in huge. I don’t even really think about it anymore. It’s just part of my routine.

That sub-three-hour marathon was the biggest goal I’d had in the last couple of years, and once I achieved it, it was a little bit like, “What’s next?” I took my foot off the gas a little bit with training. But that time did qualify me for the Boston Marathon, so I’m running that in April, for the first and probably only time. One of my best friends that I run with, Vito Lentini, is coaching me. I’m really excited to go on that journey with him and have him as a resource and in my corner. I think I’m also trying to give myself a little more grace as I go through this training block. Am I in the shape that I want to be right now? No, but I’m leaning into the process of starting from scratch again, and I’m looking forward to trying to build myself back up to where I once was and maybe even further.

Honestly, as a kid, running was always punishment. It was what the coach made us do in hockey when we screwed up on the ice: We took our skates off and ran around the rink. So I hated it for most of my life. But it has become an outlet, a positive use of all of that energy, the angst, the things that frustrate me, the things that I’m looking forward to, if I need time to think. It came into my life when I needed it, and I learned through others that running didn’t have to suck.