In A Skirt Podcast

You know how we put so much thought and effort into what we wear for our big races. We make sure we have clothes that will not chafe, that we have our fastest shoes, that we are going to be comfortable in what we are wearing.

OK, now imagine scrapping all of that and deciding to go run a marathon with face paint and wrapped head to toe in bandages.

And having so much fun, that you go back and do it again, but this time with badminton shoes and rackets.

That’s what my guest Andy Roberts did. Andy is a runner from England. Last year, he snagged a Guinness World Record by becoming the fastest person to run a marathon dressed as a mummy. That was at the London Marathon. When he got into London again this year, he went for another Guinness World Record and became the fastest person to run a marathon as a badminton player.

So Andy is now a two-time Guinness World Record holder and in this episode, the two of us wonder if he can get a Guinness World Record for holding the most Guinness World Records.

Andy started running about six years ago and has fallen in love with the sport. Marathons, ultras, he’s done it all. He was so much fun to talk to and his world record attempt stories are hilarious.

 

Show Notes:

 

Follow Andy Roberts on Instagram

 

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One of the first female attorneys I met terrified me. Because she had to. Because she had to be tough. She had to exude strength with every step and every word. There were too many people watching her who didn’t think she had a right to be there.

 

When I went to law school, no one told me I didn’t have a right to be there. No one told me I had taken some man’s place in the class. I got to walk an easier path because women before me had paved it for me.

 

The waypavers. The pathmarkers.

 

As the 126th Boston Marathon approaches, and I get ready to participate in the race…as a woman, as a modest religious woman wearing a skirt, I’ve been overwhelmed with gratitude for those who paved the path for me in every area of my life. I’ve thought many times how fortunate I am to have been able to choose any career I wanted. And as I prepare for Boston, I’ve thought how fortunate I am to be able to register for a race without anyone telling me women are too weak to run.

 

While the Boston Marathon celebrates its 126th running, it’s only the 50th anniversary for women to be able to register for the race. And while tens of thousands of women will line up in Hopkinton to run Boston this year, only eight women ran that race in 1972.

 

Years ago, Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, said, “Young women today often have very little appreciation for the real battles that took place to get women where they are today in this country. I don’t know how much history young women today know about those battles.”

 

As we runners and athletes celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX and the 50th anniversary of women officially running Boston, let’s learn and celebrate and thank those who fought those real battles before us.

 

The waypavers. The pathmarkers.

 

 

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This is my 100th episode!

I’m so happy I could get Kristen Doornbos back on my podcast for another interview.

Kristen is a runner and also the really cool human behind Paper Trails Greeting Company.

This time around, Kristen and I talk about her new endeavor—Equal Money for Equal Miles. Kristen is on a mission to get the major U.S. marathons to offer equal prize money to top finishing athletes in the wheelchair and para divisions. It’s astonishing how little these athletes are paid for equal distances and equal efforts. Kristen does a great job of explaining why these athletes deserve parity and what we can all do to help. I have a link to her petition in my show notes.

 

Show Notes:

 

Equal Money for Equal Miles – sign the petition!

Paper Trails Greeting Co.

Kristen Doornbos on Instagram

Paper Trails Greeting Co. on Instagram

 

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Episode 99 – Juan Acevedo

 

I first had Juan on the show about three years ago with several other ultra-runners. I asked Juan to be a guest again because he recently won the Snowdrop Ultra 55 Hour Race. Juan brought his girlfriend, Veronica, to my house for this interview, so this is really a conversation with the two of them. I enjoyed sitting down with the two of them.

 

At the Snowdrop Ultra 55 Hour Race, Juan came in first place by running 200 miles during the 55 hours. This was his first time running that distance. In fact, 11 hours before he finished the 200 miles, it was also his first time running 150 miles! What I love most about this conversation with Juan is his attitude toward his endeavors. I tend to have a “I don’t think I can do that” mindset, which I’m aware of and which I’m trying to change, but if you listen to this conversation with Juan, there’s this recurring theme of, “It’s possible.” He looks at situations and declares that they’re possible, so he should give it a try. I love that.

 

One more thing—it’s not too late to register for the Race for Hope, which will be held this coming Saturday—February 19, 2022, in Lufkin. There is a 5K, half marathon, and marathon. The link to register is in the show notes.

 

Show Notes:

 

Register for Race for Hope!

East Texas Cancer Alliance of Hope

 

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Episode 98 – Race for Hope (Ashley Berry)

 

Sign up now! Race for Hope is happening February 18-19, 2022! The kids run will be Friday, February 18, and the full marathon, half marathon, 5K, and 5K walk will be Saturday, February 19. The race starts and ends in beautiful downtown Lufkin!

 

The race benefits East Texas Cancer Alliance of Hope, a Lufkin non-profit organization. In this episode, I talk to Ashley Berry, the Executive Director of East Texas Cancer Alliance of Hope. We talk about the organization, the race, the snowpocalypse we had last February in Texas, and about a way to get a free pair of Goodr sunglasses!

 

Show Notes:

 

Register for Race for Hope!

East Texas Cancer Alliance of Hope

 

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Episode 97 – A Few of My Favorite Things

 

Sometimes I get off track and it’s really hard for me to get back on track. If this never happens to you, please tell me how you always stay on track! If this DOES happen to you, let’s be friends.

 

This is a simple episode to get back on track with my podcast! I wanted to share with you a few of my favorite things. If you’re looking for some last-minute gifts for someone in your life who may like to run, here are some things that have made my life so much better. This episode is just my telling you what I like…no one has paid me for this episode or asked me to sell their products. I will include links in my show notes so you can find more info on my favorite things or purchase them.

 

Mod Sportswear’s FlexSkirt.

Goodr Sunglasses

Ucan

Bib Boards

Koala Clip

Buddy Pouch

Saucony Endorphin Pro

MusicCozy Headphones

Avanto Running Light

Erica Sara Jewelry

Paper Trails Greeting Co.

No Label Knits

Pilates in a Pencil Skirt

 

Show Notes:

Mod Sportswear Flex Skirts

Goodr Sunglasses

UCan

Bib Boards

Koala Clip

Buddy Pouch

MusicCozy

Avanto light

Erica Sara Jewelry

Paper Trails Greeting Co.

No Label Knits

Pilates in a Pencil Skirt

 

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Doing things a little differently for this episode. I’ve had a few people ask for a recap on my time in Chicago for the Chicago Marathon, so I’m pulling in a special guest to interview ME. Kid 2 is helping me out with this episode.

 

Since we’re going to talk about a specific race in this episode, I want to bring up some other information on upcoming races that I’d like to promote. Check out the show notes for links to the BCS Marathon, All-America City David Chavana 10K, and the Race for Hope.

 

Show Notes:

 

BCS Marathon

All-America City David Chavana 10K

Race for Hope

Mission Our Lady of the Angels

UCAN (use code INASKIRT2020 for 15% off your order)

 

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Today’s guest is my brother, Oscar Garcia, III. He just returned home on September 17th from a 9-month deployment aboard the USS Monterey. In this episode we talk about the Monterey, different ships he’s been on, a little about his Navy career, and about running on a ship—whether it was on a treadmill bobbing up and down in rough seas, or on the deck of the ship, which can be a little dangerous. So I hope you enjoy listening to us catch up. Warning, though, I love to make fun of my brother, so I hope that doesn’t offend you. I’m the little sister, so growing up with a brother who was older and stronger than I was, I resorted to making fun of him to get even. I still do that. He secretly loves it.

 

Show Notes:

 

Donate to Team Our Lady of the Angels 2021

UCAN (use code INASKIRT2020 for 15% off your order)

 

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This episode’s guest is Lucja Leonard. This is one of those conversations I didn’t want to end. Lucja is so much fun to talk to and I want to go run with her one day now.

 

This episode has it all—Lucja didn’t start running until about 2008. She was looking for a healthy lifestyle change and fell in love with running. She has words of wisdom about how we are all born to run.

 

Lucja’s love for running is shared by her husband, Dion. Together, they found the sport and became ultra-runners. Lucja and Dion have lived and run all over the world. Talking to her makes me want to jump on a plane and take a bunch of runcations! Currently, they are living in the U.S. and Lucja is about to take on the second leg of the Triple Crown of 200s. The triple crown includes three 200+ mile races with lots of elevation gain. All three races have time cutoffs and are within a period of nine weeks. So there is very little recovery between efforts. The second of the three races had to be canceled because of fires, so Lucja is running it virtually soon—she needs pacers, so if you’re interested, listen to the info she gives in this episode. In this episode, you’ll hear her say the second race is 10 days away, but I recorded this last week, so that’s coming up like right now. Also, you’ll hear me ask her if she knows how many steps she took at the first race and she said she’d check. Lucja messaged me later with that info—the total was 481,248 steps at one race!

 

Lucja also tells me the story of the dog her husband rescued during an ultra in the Gobi Desert in China. It’s a wonderful story about how this scraggly pup chose Dion to be his person and how Dion bonded with the dog during the race and did everything he could to get the pup home. They named the dog Gobi and there’s a great book out about the adventure and there will be a movie soon!

 

Check out my show notes. I have links to the organization Lucja is raising money for through the Triple Crown of 200s. I also have links to her Instragram profile as well as Gobi and Dion’s.

 

Show Notes:

 

Lucja Leonard’s site (Running Dutchie)

Lucja on Instagram

Gobi on Instagram

Finding Gobi site

Donate to Pink Ribbon Foundation

Donate to Team Our Lady of the Angels 2021

UCAN (use code INASKIRT2020 for 15% off your order)

 

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Mike is a repeat guest. I first had him on the show close to two years ago. At that point, Mike was new to his running journey. He’s progressed rather quickly in running endurance and distance, and we talk a little about that on this episode.

 

If you listened to the first episode with Mike, you’ll know that he made a number of lifestyle changes in the beginning of 2019 and by November of that year, had lost a significant amount of weight. As of the day of this second interview, Mike has lost 200 pounds since January of 2019.

 

Mike and I talked a little bit about how weight loss is not all fun and games. I’ve congratulated people on weight loss before, but over the last few months I’ve wondered if that’s the right thing to do. I think getting healthy, changing bad habits, feeling better about yourself are all GOOD things. But I think treating a person differently because they look different is a BAD thing. Mike was open and honest in this conversation about how hurtful it can be to be treated differently after you’ve lost weight—like you were invincible or worth less before you lost the weight. I would imagine that if I changed my appearance to fit society’s view of what is desirable or attractive, and suddenly people accepted me, my feelings would be hurt.

 

I’m impressed with all that Mike has done. I think he’s an amazing athlete. I’m happy he’s found a passion. And I will continue to congratulate him on all his accomplishments. And, yes, this will sound really corny, but it’s true regardless, I’m thankful Mike was honest in this interview and I hope we can value people without any regard to their physical appearance.

 

Show Notes:

 

Donate to Team Our Lady of the Angels 2021

UCAN (use code INASKIRT2020 for 15% off your order)

 

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