Inspired Soles

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

We’re honoured and excited to be catching up with Canada’s fastest female marathoner, Natasha Wodak, after her brilliant run in the Berlin Marathon on September 25th, 2022. We dug into all the details of that magical day, including some of the challenges she faced in the days leading up to – as well as in the early miles of – the race. We discussed what it feels like to run a 1:28 negative split to smash the Canadian record previously held by Malindi Elmore, and why you might consider this strategy for your next race. We nerd out on her mind-blowing splits of that 2:23:12 result, she tells us about finding (and compensating!) her pacer Tony, and we hear about many of the incredible people on her support team.

Natasha has quite the running resume over her two plus decades in the sport. She is a two-time Olympian (Rio 2016: 10000m in 31:53; Tokyo 2021: 13th place in marathon) and has represented Canada at numerous World Championships in the 10000m as well as cross country. She tells us how she’s managed to keep it fun and fresh over the years, and whether or not there is any pressure associated with the title, “Canadian Record Holder.”

After recording this interview, Natasha was officially selected to Team Canada for the 2023 World Athletics Championships for the marathon in Budapest this summer and she won the First Half half marathon in Vancouver in a time of 1:10:17. From our vantage point, she is well-poised to earn a spot on our 2024 Paris Olympic team, and her next goal will be to secure the standard of 2:26:50 at the London Marathon in April.

Connect with Natasha:

• Instagram/Twitter: @tashawodak 
• Strava: @natashawodak

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Kim's Instagram
• Kim's Facebook
• Carolyn's Instagram
• Carolyn's Facebook
• Carolyn's website (sign up for her free weekly newsletter on the homepage)

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to [email protected]. 

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

There’s no guest interview today. Instead, we chose to get vulnerable and show our human sides a little bit more. Inspired by a recent episode of the Running Rogue podcast with Chris McClung, we each open up about our top 3 running insecurities, how they show up for us, and most importantly, what we do to navigate them. 

We believe all of us face insecurities in one way or another, so our primary goal with this one was to help you feel less alone and to give you some practical strategies for working through the ones you most relate to. We’d love to generate some conversation, so please feel free to head over to our Instagram page and add your comments to this post.

Resources we discussed in this episode:

• Running Rogue Podcast (Ep 301)
• Carolyn's Inspired Soles interview (Ep 1)

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Kim's Instagram
• Kim's Facebook
• Carolyn's Instagram
• Carolyn's Facebook
• Carolyn's website (sign up for her free weekly newsletter on the homepage)

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to [email protected]. 

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

Aldo Furlan is a 58-year old kindergarten teacher, avid runner, and all-around awesome human who gives back tirelessly to his running community in Winnipeg. In addition to coaching middle school track and cross country, he is heavily involved with the Manitoba Runners’ Association, Teds Run for Literacy, the Winnipeg 10&10 and the Manitoba Marathon.

In this episode Aldo tells us about being “crippled by a 4-year old” many years ago and how his journey through rehab and back to running inspired him to write one heck of a poem titled Ode to My Lateral Meniscus. More recently while dealing with an assortment of common running niggles, he put pen to paper once again with Bag of Pain.

Two of the most fun ways Aldo gives back is through his weekend pop-ups all summer long throughout Winnipeg, as well as the Polar Bare run every January 1st in Assiniboine Park. Be sure to listen to the very end when he tells us about the Not Since Moses race in Nova Scotia every August.

Ode to my Lateral Meniscus 

There’s a lexicon of terms out there and they’re not hard to find

A few of them are great to use when meniscus come to to mind 

For you can call it healthy or you can call it fine

Like the beautiful aroma of a nine ounce glass of wine

You can say that it’s dependable, just like a St.Bernard

Who chases away vandals trespassing in your yard. 

You can say that it’s pristine as a freshly poured draft beer

A welcomed cold libation when the finish line is near. 

You can say that it’s as mighty as a herd of elephants 

With all the durability of brand new denim pants.

You can say that it’s delightful like a steeping pot of tea, 

This most integral part of an articulating knee.

You can say it is hearty or you can say that it is sound

Just like the wisdom of a friend you like to have around.

You can tell me that it’s sturdy or you can say that it is tough 

There are not limits to what you say but the right word is enough. 

You can say “spectacular”or you can say “Robust”

But for you to use the proper term is definitely a must. 

So choose your words quite carefully my friends as you now know what I mean

For to call it “unremarkable” is really quite obscene!

Resources we discussed in this episode:

• Kathy Wiens on Inspired Soles (Ep 27)
• Not Since Moses Race
• Winnipeg Hash House Harriers 
• Favourite Mantra: You wreck me (Tom Petty)
• Favourite Place to Run: Assiniboine Park
• Bucket List Race: Race in every province; Chicago Marathon (or half)
• Favourite Running Movie: Run Fat Boy Run
• Favourite Post Run Indulgence: Bacon breakfast

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to [email protected]. 

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

Nicki Rehn is an Australian-Canadian who loves the beach, but is hopelessly addicted to the mountains so has spent most of her adult life in Calgary, AB, Canada. She came to adventure and endurance sports by way of competitive triathlon and road marathon. It's been over a decade since she raced on pavement, preferring instead adventure racing, mountain biking, ultramarathon running, fast-packing, skiing, orienteering, and mountain scrambling. When not running, Nicki works as an education consultant. She also loves to travel and write. 

In this episode, we discuss Nicki’s upbringing in Australia and her female unsupported fastest know time (FKT) of the 1000km Bibbulmun Track in Western Australia as well as what inspires her to attempt such epic distances in epic places. This lady runner is a 3 time finisher of Tor des Geants (a 330km race in Italy),  5 time attendee at the Barkley Marathons, second place finisher at Sinister 7 100m and Fat Dog 120m and has even done the Dragon’s Back Race in Wales on a punishing 305km course that will test the very best.  While Nicki has a resume that will stun even the most accomplished ultrarunner, we primarily invited her on the podcast to talk about her most experience of running the Snowman Race in Bhutan with an invite from the king himself.

Strap into your seats or drop the hammer on your run because this episode is bound to leave you feeling like you can accomplish anything!

Connect with Nicki:

• Blog: nickirehn.blogspot.com
• Instagram: @nicki_rehn

Resources we discussed in this episode:

• Joanna Ford on Inspired Soles (Ep 98)
• The Barkley Marathons
• Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom 
• Favourite Mantra: Surrender to the existence
• Favourite Place to Run: Bragg Creek
• Bucket List Race: Madeira Island Ultra Trail
• Favourite Running Book/Movie: Endure by Alex Hutchinson
• Favourite Post Run Indulgence: Beer and chips

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Kim's Instagram
• Kim's Facebook
• Carolyn's Instagram
• Carolyn's Facebook
• Carolyn's website (sign up for her free weekly newsletter on the homepage)

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to [email protected]. 

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

Meet our Couple of the Quarter, Dana and Shaun Mayberry, who own and operate Mayberry Fine Art in Winnipeg, MB.  

Dana is one of Carolyn’s clients who had been working tirelessly for a year to lower her 4:29 marathon best set back in 2019. Through a series of unfortunate events, not one of Dana’s goal races came to fruition until December 4, 2022 when she ran her way to a 28-minute personal best at the California International Marathon in Sacramento, finishing in a time of 4:01:06.

A former runner himself, Shaun intimately understands and respects the commitment and dedication required to run marathons, and he is captain of Dana’s cheerleading team.

In this conversation we get a glimpse into what makes their partnership so special and so successful. Shaun brings a lightness and sense of humour to everything he does, which comes in handy when Dana faces the ups and downs that are part and parcel of marathon training. Carolyn also got to benefit from his support firsthand in Sacramento when he stepped into the role of team manager and chef extraordinaire throughout race weekend.

Our COTQ series is meant to highlight the different aspects of what it means to be in a partnership when one or both people are runners, and these two certainly seem to have it all figured out.

Connect with Dana & Shaun:

• Website: mayberryfineart.com

Resources we discussed in this episode:

• California International Marathon

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Kim's Instagram
• Kim's Facebook
• Carolyn's Instagram
• Carolyn's Facebook
• Carolyn's website (sign up for her free weekly newsletter on the homepage)

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to [email protected]. 

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

Dan Klco identifies foremost as a husband and father to his three amazing children. He is an advanced psychotherapist who’s trained with some of the foremost leaders in the psychology field in Canada. His practice as a clinical counselor includes somatic focus work (ISTDP) on mental health experiences including severe depression and anxiety, pain management, addictions, sexual health, and complex medically unexplained conditions. Dan is also trained in other modalities such as EMDR, DNF, and other evidence based cognitive methods. He specializes in Forest Therapy and holistic approaches to achieving overall health and wellness. Dan also served several tours overseas as a military pilot. A lifelong athlete, he has participated in sports since an early age. A 35+ year practitioner of karate, as well as a triathlete, skier, and hunter, he likes to spend much of his free time participating in and playing sports; they are integral to his optimal mental health. 

In this episode, we have a fascinating conversation with Dan about running & mental health.  We discuss:

• How running & physical fitness plays an important role in mental health
• The benefits of running with regards to mental health
• Neurochemical responses that take place during and after running
• How runners can prepare for and handle the “crash” after a race
• Is there a dark side to running & mental health?
• Where to go if you need further support.

Connect with Dan:

• Website: https://www.nominahealth.ca

Resources we discussed in this episode:

• Special Forces Training
• The Lies We Tell Ourselves by Jon Frederickson
• Lemonade: Squeeze Your Challenging Life Experiences into a Successful Business by Melane Mullings

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Kim's Instagram
• Kim's Facebook
• Carolyn's Instagram
• Carolyn's Facebook
• Carolyn's website (sign up for her free weekly newsletter on the homepage)

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to [email protected]. 

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

Sara Morrison is a 40-year old phys ed teacher and busy mom-of-two from Winnipeg MB. She took up running as a convenient way to stay fit in her early 30s after her second child was born and quickly fell in love with the half marathon distance. Sara never had much interest in running a marathon back then but thought if there was ever a time to do it, it would be for her 40th birthday in 2022. And since her birthday is in November, the obvious choice was the NYC Marathon. When she didn’t get in through the lottery, Sara decided to partner with the charity CURE Epilepsy, which is near and dear to her heart, and went on to raise over $5000 for that cause.

Sara knew she would benefit from some support with her training so she reached out to Carolyn for coaching last spring. In this episode she tells us about the many highs and lows she faced during the training cycle, as well as two incredibly stressful events that happened in the days leading up to the November 6th race, which was forecast to be one of the hottest and most humid days in NYC Marathon history. Somehow, despite all the challenges, Sara managed to collect herself and run one of the smartest, most textbook first marathons we have ever seen!

Resources we discussed in this episode:

• Favourite Mantra: Finish strong
• Favourite Place to Run: Birds Hill Park
• Bucket List Race: Chicago Marathon
• Favourite Running Book: Let Your Mind Run by Deena Kastor 
• Favourite Post Run Indulgence: Peanut butter

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Kim's Instagram
• Kim's Facebook
• Carolyn's Instagram
• Carolyn's Facebook
• Carolyn's website (sign up for her free weekly newsletter on the homepage)

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to [email protected]. 

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

Andrew Messina is a trail ultrarunner from Middletown, New Jersey where he lives with his wife and two children. He owns and operates a small business called Tech Experts in New York City. Andrew started running in 2010 when he was somewhat overweight and discovered he had a kidney stone, realizing that his health was not something he could be proud of. This summer Andrew became one of only 12 athletes in 2022 to complete both Western States Endurance Run AND Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc in the same year. Of those 12 athletes, five were elite and seven were non-elite, and he was the only person from New Jersey.  

Kim met Andrew back in 2019 at Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Run and after some shared pre-race french fries and a few miles on the course they both realized they had lots in common, the least of which was a dream to run UTMB. We had Marianne Hogan on the show back in September when we talked about doing both races nine weeks apart from an elite perspective and in this conversation we talked about what Andrew’s experience was like from a non-elite perspective. Regardless of what labels we give each other, accomplishing a double like WSER and UTMB in the same year is significant, and we think you will enjoy hearing the passion and energy in his voice as Andrew tells us the story of a summer I’m sure he will never forget.

Connect with Andrew:

• Strava: @andrewmessina
• Instagram

Resources we discussed in this episode:

• Episode 88 with Trena Chellino
• Trail Runner Nation with AJW

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Kim's Instagram
• Kim's Facebook
• Carolyn's Instagram
• Carolyn's Facebook
• Carolyn's website (sign up for her free weekly newsletter on the homepage)

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to [email protected]. 

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

Today we’ve chosen to re-air our episode with one of the great pioneers of Canadian women’s running, Diane Palmason. Sadly, Diane passed away over the Thanksgiving weekend in Courtenay BC and we feel so fortunate to have had this delightful conversation with her back in July 2021.

Diane recalls how she discovered her love of running at a Sunday school picnic when she was just seven years old. By 12 she was recruited to train with the Mercury Athletic Club, a women’s only track club coached by the legendary 1928 Olympian Myrtle Cook. Diane’s career dates back to before women were allowed to run anything longer than 220 yards in competition, but in 1954 at the age of 16 she proudly represented Canada at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver BC. This was the same competition where both Roger Bannister and John Landy ran under 4-minutes for the mile in the same race, so Diane even got to witness the “miracle mile.”

With no more opportunities to pursue, Diane retired from running at the age of 17 and carried on with her life. She went to university, became a teacher, married and had four children. Over 20 years went by before she burst back onto the scene, inspired by Eleanor Thomas’ win at the inaugural National Capital Marathon in 1975. Since then Diane has broken Canadian records in every age group from W40-W70 and at every distance from 100m to 80k. In 2003 Diane broke seven Canadian records from 100m to the marathon all within five months, some of which were also world records.  

This conversation is a history lesson delivered through amazing storytelling. We owe Diane and the female runners of her time a debt of gratitude for spearheading a revolution and changing the commonly held beliefs about what women are capable of, particularly into their masters years. 

Resources we discussed in the episode:

• Margaret Webb's book, Older Faster Stronger, where Diane is featured.
• Roger Bannister and John Landy's "miracle mile"
• Jim Peters marathon collapse
• Kathrine Switzer’s book, Marathon Woman
• Age grading calculator

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Kim's Instagram
• Kim's Facebook
• Carolyn's Instagram
• Carolyn's Facebook
• Carolyn's website (sign up for her free weekly newsletter on the homepage)

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to [email protected]. 

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

From Yarker Ontario, Derrick Spafford is a 56-year-old competitive runner, coach, race director and owner of Spafford Health and Adventure, offering Dion snowshoes and a very popular series of snowshoe races. But perhaps his biggest claim to fame is a 31-year and 25-day run streak that began on Boxing Day in 1989 and came to an abrupt end almost 2 years ago when he was diagnosed with -- and hospitalized for -- a pulmonary embolism. 

Throughout the course of his 3-decade run streak, Derrick competed in hundreds of races with distances ranging from 800 meters to 100 miles. While Derrick has run his fair share of road races and track events, his love lies in the mountains and off-the-beaten-path trails. 

In this conversation we dug deep into Derrick's epic run streak, which at the time it ended was the 3rd longest in Canada, as well as what inspires him to get out the door and move his body these days. 

Connect with Derrick:

• Website: healthandadventure.com
• Instagram: @spaffordadventure

Resources we discussed in this episode:

• Episode 111 with Ray Zahab
• Run Streak Website: runeveryday.com
• Favourite Mantra: Strong Brisk Fast and Light
• Favourite Place to Run: Trails near Shabomeka Lake
• Bucket List Race: Sister race to the Yukon Arctic Ultra in Lapland, Sweden;
• Favourite Running Books: Once a Runner by John L. Parker Jr.; Conquering the Impossible by Mike Horn
• Favourite Post Run Indulgence: Craft Beer ("snowshoe oatmeal stout" from the Kick and Push Brewing Company)

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Kim's Instagram
• Kim's Facebook
• Carolyn's Instagram
• Carolyn's Facebook
• Carolyn's website (sign up for her free weekly newsletter on the homepage)

You can help spread the running love! The best way to SUPPORT Inspired Soles is to share your favourite episode(s) with friends, subscribe, or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Connect on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to [email protected].