Today's guest on The XC Podcast is Andrea Seccafien, one of Canada's most accomplished distance runners who now trains in Australia. Seccafien, a 2016 Olympian from Guelph, Ontario now trains under coach Nic Bideau with the Melbourne Track Club. In 2019, she became the fourth Canadian woman to dip under the 15-minute barrier for 5,000m and three months after that, she set a new Canadian half-marathon record of 69:38.

The 30-year-old is currently navigating the highs and lows of the pandemic in Australia, which involved a 111 day lockdown last summer, followed by a nearly COVID-free fall and winter. Through it all, she's built some great fitness. She recently competed in a road 10k and set a personal best time of 31:45.

In this episode, Alex Cyr asks Seccafien about her current training, how she clawed out of a nasty injury cycle in 2018, how life in the Southern Hemisphere is different than in North America, and how she used baking to keep her mental health in check during a long lockdown.

Host: Alex Cyr

Guest: Andrea Seccafien