Today's guest is Shay Eskew from Nashville, Tennessee (USA).

His life is so unbelievable that if you would see a movie about it, you’d probably say NO WAY this would happen in real life.

His life is stranger than fiction.

At the age of 8 the trajectory of his life changed forever. Shay was accidentally set afire when playing with a girl from the neighborhood.

As a result, 65% of his body is covered with burn scars and he has endured over 40 surgeries in 40 years.

The doctors said he would never be competitive in sports again.

But guess what?

Shay didn’t really care what the doctors said. He wanted to reclaim his life and be considered a "normal" kid.

So he worked hard. Harder you can ever imagine.

He is a 42x IRONMAN 70.3 athlete, 4 x member of Team USA and ranked top 1% of Ironman worldwide 6x, and has competed in 14 triathlon World Championships, including the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.

Overcoming all odds and perseverance define his story.

Equally impressive, he’s a husband and father of 5 teenage kids.

During our chat he shares his impressive and powerful mindset with us.

What we talk about:

- What happened to him at the age of 8

- Why burn trauma is a lifelong trauma that never goes away

- The side effects of burn scars

- Why every obstacle is a great opportunity in disguise

- How he was introduced to the world of triathlons and Ironman

- The piece of advice he gives his children and applies to everyone

His book recommendation:

"Endurance, Shackleton’s incredible voyage" by Alfred Lansing

More about Shay Eskew:

- www.shayeskew.com

- His book (a must read): What the Fire Ignited, How Life’s Worst Made Me Achieve My Best.

Instagram: mrshaysq

Shay's inspirational thoughts:

There is so much in life we have no control over, and we can’t lose sleep over those things. But if we commit 110 percent effort to changing the things we can control, life takes on a new meaning.

Huge Thank You to Shay Eskew for sharing his inspirational story with me. 😍

If you want to find out how you can improve your English, listening or reading about running stories, visit my web page and hit the subscribe button: https://englishforthelongrun.com

Bye for now and enjoy English for the Long Run!

Living Life by Scott Holmes Music

This time, together with Chema Martínez Pastor, I have the honour to chat with Veronique Bourbeau.

Chema is a runner, running coach and co-host of the popular Spanish running podcast A tu ritmo. He told me about Veronique and her mind-blowing running adventures, so I decided to try and get her on the podcast.

And she said yes!

Veronique Bourbeau is a native of Quebec City, Canada, who (currently) lives and trains in Australia.

She is the founder of the non-profit organisation Run for Humanity, an Ultra Runner Adventurer, Public Speaker, and author of the book Fearless: One Woman’s transformational journey from a treadmill to running the African Continent.

We talk about dreaming BIG, helping others, and celebrating life while running CRAZY amounts of kilometers and having loads of fun.

Some amazing facts about Veronique:

- She has run well over 30 ultra marathons and completed several 250 k races

- She ran across Japan (3010 km, a marathon a day for 72 days)

- She is the overall winner and record holder for the 444 km C2C Ultra in Malaysia

Otherwise, she calls herself a “normal” working mom of two children who unexpectedly became an endurance athlete after buying a secondhand treadmill, giving the “run walk” method a try. 😉

In 2024, Veronique will be running 13.000 kilometers from Alexandria to Cape Town, the entire African continent from the North to the South to provide as many people as possible with water filters for safe water.

Her inspiration:

Terry Fox, the amputee athlete who ran across Canada to raise money and awareness for cancer research

Her foundation where you can support her:

Run for Humanity

'' Where we change the world by providing clean and safe water to remote parts of the world, 1km at a time!''

More info:

https://www.veroniquerun.com/

Instagram @veroniquerun

https://givebutter.com/AxpvNd

https://www.veroniquerun.com/

Her book (A great read!!):

https://www.amazon.com.au/Fearless-transformational-journey-treadmill-Continent/dp/B0BLXZXJ2D/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3MPO037NHGKUY&keywords=fearless+veronique+Bourbeau&qid=1682567068&s=books&sprefix=fearless+veronique+bourbeau%2Cstripbooks%2C265&sr=1-1

Muchas gracias to Chema for telling me about Veronique and for coming on the podcast and huge Merci to Veronique for being such a heart-warming beacon of hope for humanity!

If you want to find out how you can improve your English, listening or reading about running stories, visit my web page and hit the subscribe button: https://englishforthelongrun.com

Bye for now, and enjoy English for the long run!

Living Life by Scott Holmes Music

Nicole Linke is a 38 year-old ultra runner, writer and kettlebell instructor who currently works and lives in Berlin (Germany).

At this moment she is training for the Race Across Scotland, a 215-miler ultra marathon.

Today she feels strong in body, mind and spirit. But that has not always been the case: in her teens and early twenties she experienced bullying both at school and at home: she was made fun of because of her looks.

Therefore she struggled for years with body image issues and low self-esteem. She was shy and afraid of people because of embarrassment and anxiety.

At a certain point she was extremely skinny and felt weak and tired.

But when an acquaintance told her that she looked "so fragile", Nicole had a light-bulb moment: she knew that something had to change.

She changed her desire for being skinny for being strong. This didn't happen overnight, it was a long and complex process that took time.

Now, in 2023, she's on a mission to help other women to feel happier, stronger and fitter through kettlebell training.

In this episode she talks about:

- Bullying and its consequences

- Becoming the top student of her class (out of fear)

- Her light-bulb moment (skinny vs strong)

- The huge benefits of kettlebell training for runners

- The Berlin Wall Race

- Her upcoming athletic goal (Race Across Scotland)

Her book recommendations:

- "Enter the kettlebell" by Pavel Tsatsouline

- "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho

Kettlebell geniuses she loves:

- Pavel Tsatsouline and Steve Cotter (check them out on Youtube)

Her best advice to her younger self:

"Trust your intuition"

Nicole's web page: www.nicolelinke.com.

Nicole Linke also writes for Medium, an open platform where readers find dynamic thinking, and where expert and undiscovered voices can share their writing on any topic.

Huge Thank You to Nicole for opening up about bullying and sharing her life story with me. 😌

If you want to find out how you can improve your English, listening or reading about running stories, visit my web page and hit the subscribe button: https://englishforthelongrun.com

Bye for now, and enjoy English for the long run!

Living Life by Scott Holmes Music

Today's guest is Kike Nieto.

I met Kike virtually on the A Tu Ritmo podcast, a very popular Spanish running podcast.

Kike usually contributes with great anecdotes from the running world. He shares remarkable stories of everyday runners and talks about the human being behind the legend in the case of professional athletes.

Kike is a 45-year-old dedicated amateur runner who worked as a Spanish teacher in London and who has been teaching English at a secondary school in Madrid since 2006.

Impressively, Kike has taken part in 120 races, of which 50 were half marathons and 19 full marathons.

Last Sunday, April 23, he ran the Madrid Marathon for the 12th time.

What we talk about:

- Why he loves the Madrid Marathon and what has changed over the years

- The beauty of marathon running and the "nirvana moment" he experiences around kilometer 35

- Why he thinks his students are not impressed by his running achievements

- His Less Is More approach towards social media and running gadgets

Some great thoughts:

- Talking about running marathons being a privilege, he uses a Shakespeare quote: "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers"

- "The appeal of the marathon is that it's out of your control."

- "The more difficult it is, the sweeter it is when you get it."

Two great running books he recommends:

- Today we'll die a little (about Emil Zatopek) by Richard Askwith

- The Perfect Mile by Neal Bascomb

The BBC documentary he talks about:

- The Real Mo Farah

Huge Thank You to Kike for sharing his time and running experiences with me. 😍

If you want to find out how you can improve your English, listening or reading about running stories, visit my web page and hit the subscribe button: https://englishforthelongrun.com

Bye for now, and enjoy English for the long run!

Living Life by Scott Holmes Music

I'm a runner with a reading problem, or a reader with a running problem. Fact is that I can't imagine what my life would look like without a good amount of running or reading.

So today's episode is more about reading than running.

I have the pleasure to talk with another book lover and language enthusiast, Oriana Domínguez. She is the founder of the Book Club Chronicles, an online book club for introverted women who want to improve their English.

Oriana studied English and Spanish Philology at the University of A Coruña, Spain, but lives in Ireland now and has been working as an English teacher for the past six years. Oriana loves languages and has studied a lot of different ones over the years, from English to Galician, French, Italian, Japanese, Irish and Portuguese.

We have a conversation about the power of reading, what a book club can do for language learners but also about being an introvert in a world that can't stop talking.

So if you have ever wondered what an introvert exactly is, and what link there might be between introversion and running, have a listen.

The books Oriana mentions and recommends:

- Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono

- When the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (I loved it!!)

- Men without Women by Haruki Murakami

- Winnie the Pooh by Allan Alexander Milne

- The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis

- The shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

- Circe by Madeleine Miller

The publishing houses of graded readers she recommends:

- Penguin Random House

- Olly Richards

The books I mention:

- A Runner's High, Older, slower, stronger by ultra runner Dean Karnazes

- Quiet, the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking by Susan Cain

Huge Thank You to Oriana for sharing her love of books with me! 😌

You can find Oriana on Instagram (@thebookclubchronicles), she posts regularly great tips about language learning and reading.

If you want to find out how you can improve your English listening or reading about running stories, visit my web page and hit the subscribe button: https://englishforthelongrun.com

Bye for now, and enjoy English for the long run!

Living Life by Scott Holmes Music

David Harvey is a 39-year-old ultra runner from the UK who has done around twenty 100 to 250 mile races and numerous shorter ultras and marathons.

On April 2nd he finished first at the Tunnel Ultra, a 200 mile ultramarathon that takes place inside the Combe Down Tunnel (Bath, UK).

Participants must complete the challenge in under 55 hours and are not allowed to listen to music, use headlamps or have a conversation with fellow tunnel runners.

David finished first in 48 hours and 50 minutes.

What we talk about:

- How he transitioned from party animal to ultra runner

- How he mentally and physically prepared for the challenge

- His strategy, thoughts and experience inside the tunnel

- Obsessions, hallucinations, Metallica and mental health

- His upcoming running goal

Some of David's inspirational thoughts about the Tunnel:

"The prospect of failure is very tempting"

"The only people that are going to finish are the people that keep their head in the game"

"Life starts out of your comfort zone"

David's film recommendation (a must-see):

- Skid Row Marathon

A film by Gaby and Mark Hayes about a Los Angeles Judge who starts a running club on Skid Row and helps its members get a second chance at life as they battle their addictions.

Huge Thank You to David Harvey for sharing his story with me! 😊

You can find David on Instagram (@Bigshanky) and on Strava.

If you want to find out how you can improve your English listening or reading about running stories, visit my web page and hit the subscribe button: https://englishforthelongrun.com

Bye for now, and enjoy English for the long run!

Living Life by Scott Holmes Music

Today's guest is amazing Tjarda Struik from the Netherlands.

Tjarda is skilled in many different areas, a so-called Jack of all trades. She is actively involved in local politics, runs her own company and is a motivational speaker. In addition to that, she has two young children and a passion for running, skiing, indoor cycling and Pilates.

Due to a progressive eye disease, Tjarda is also almost blind.

She shares her inspiring outlook on life on her social media where she raises awareness as a blindfluencer with a great sense of humour. On TikTok alone over 180.000 people watch her videos to find out what it is like to be blind.

What we talk about during our conversation:

- How she is able to participate in road races and run (alone!) in nature

- The importance of having fun, making jokes and laughing when life gives you lemons

- Her experience as a blind mother

- Her goal of becoming the first female blind Mayor

- Why she can't imagine life without her iPhone

Her book recommendation:

"Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki

Tjarda's inspirational thought:

- I hate the sentence 'you cannot do that'. I will always try and find a way to do it anyway.

Huge Thank You to Tjarda Struik for sharing her inspirational story with me. 😍

Instagram: @tjardastruik

TikTok: tjarda struik

Web: https://www.tjardastruik.nl

If you want to find out how you can improve your English, listening or reading about running stories, visit my web page and hit the subscribe button: https://englishforthelongrun.com

Bye for now, and enjoy English for the long run!

Living Life by Scott Holmes Music

To me, polyglots are the ultra runners of language learning. They go the extra mile(s) and seem to be able to do the absolute impossible.

Luca Sadurny is one of them. He is a passionate language learner able to communicate in 8 languages (English, French, Spanish, Romanian, Brazilian-Portuguese, German, Neapolitan and Italian).

However, in school, he never thought that he was good at languages. With English he felt particularly frustrated: after studying it for 13 long years he was still unable to have a basic conversation.

Convinced of not being specially talented for languages, he had a revelation while learning French on his own: he discovered that there are no bad learners, only bad learning methods.

From that moment on, he started experimenting and trying the most effective techniques and tools to learn languages in a smarter way.

He is the co-founder of Mosalingua, a language learning app that is used by more than 12 million users from all around the world.

What we talk about:

* What Mosalingua is and how it works

* What differentiates Mosalingua from other language learning apps

* Why you should aim at reaching a strong B2 level in your target language

* Treadmill running vs running outside

* The future of language learning

His book recommendation:

Atomic Habits by James Clear

More info about Mosalingua:

https://www.mosalingua.com

instagram: @mosalingua

Huge Thank You to Luca for sharing his story with me!! 😌

If you want to find out how you can improve your English, listening or reading about running stories, visit my web page and hit the subscribe button: https://englishforthelongrun.com

Bye for now, and enjoy English for the long run!

Living Life by Scott Holmes Music

Adam Gorlitsky is a 36-year-old athlete who lives in Greenville, South Carolina (USA).

At the age of 19, he was involved in a single person car accident which left him paralyzed from the belly button down with a spinal cord injury.

His doctors believed he would never walk again.

Fortunately, ten years later, he was given the opportunity to try out a ReWalk robotic exoskeleton – a groundbreaking device that would allow him to eventually participate in over 50 road races and set the Guinness World Record for Exoskeleton Marathon Racing.

Shortly after doing his first road race, Adam founded I Got Legs, a non profit organization dedicated to ReEnabling athletes with physical challenges and supporting improvements to life changing technology.

One of their main goals is to turn Exoskeleton Racing into a Paralympic and collegiate adaptive sport.

In the interview we talk about the importance of goal setting, exoskeleton racing, overcoming adversity and Adam's professional and athletic goals for the near future.

More info:

https://www.igotlegs.org/

instagram: i_got_legs

Huge Thank You to Adam for sharing his powerful story and mindset with me! 😌

If you want to find out how you can improve your English, listening or reading about running stories, visit my web page and hit the subscribe button: https://englishforthelongrun.com

Bye for now, and enjoy English for the long run!

Living Life by Scott Holmes Music

Enrique Criado Navamuel is a 41-year-old runner from Madrid who is currently the Consul General of Spain in Frankfurt am Main (Germany).

He is also a lawyer, writer, Real Madrid fan and an amateur footballer himself. On top of that he has two young children who grow up in a multilingual environment (German, French, Bulgarian, Spanish and English).

Enrique ran his first ever marathon last October in Frankfurt am Main and it didn't go exactly as he had in mind.

What we talk about:

* Expectations vs Reality

* The three crises he suffered during the race and the most important lesson he learned

* Football and former footballers who run marathons

* Raising two little polyglots

* Books, writing and why reading is a must if you want to be a writer

* The extraordinary life lesson he learned from the Congolese as a young diplomat in the Congo

His running book recommendation:

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by the great Haruki Murakami

Some of his own books we talk about:

- Cosas que no caben en una maleta, vivencias de un diplomático novato en el Congo (Aguilar, Penguin Random House, Colibrí)

- El paraguas balcánico (Aguilar, Penguin Random House)

- Muchas vidas y un destino (Sial Pigmalión)

The book he was inspired by:

The Innocent Anthropologist by Nigel Barley

You can find him at the Consulate General of Spain in Frankfurt am Main, on twitter (@ECriadoNavamuel) and, probably, at the starting line of some half marathons in Germany.

Huge "Danke schön" to Enrique Criado Navamuel for sharing his story with me! 😊

If you want to find out how you can improve your English, listening or reading about running stories, visit my web page and hit the subscribe button: https://englishforthelongrun.com

Bye for now, and enjoy English for the long run!

Living Life by Scott Holmes Music