Inspired Soles

Got feedback about this episode? Send Carolyn a text

Today we welcome Ailsa MacDonald back to the podcast to talk about her recent performance at Western States Endurance Run, where she finished an impressive second female and 15th overall. Her previous performance at Western States in 2018 earned her a 45th overall finish and provided her with some wisdom and unfinished business. She returned this year stronger and wiser than ever and took everyone (except us!) by surprise as she worked her way up the field to finish very very strongly.

In this episode we talk about some of the keys to her success including:

• Going into the race very rested which included not running at all for a week when all her competitors were peaking
• Going in well nourished and not underweight
• Having a race plan that involved a 90 mile warm up and a 10 mile effort
• Running completely within herself in zone 1-2 the entire race
• Trekking all the hills
• Practicing patience and humility

Ailsa is one strong and grounded elite ultrarunner who at age 41 still has many great performances left in her. Her top 3 finish at Western States earns her an automatic entry to both Western States and UTMB next year. Keep listening to find out what her plans are for 2023!

Connect with Ailsa :

• Instagram: @ailsamacdonaldrunner
• Facebook 

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Email us with guest ideas: [email protected]
• Inspired Soles Instagram
• 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 are honoured to host Jason Schlarb as a guest on the show. He is a champion professional trail ultrarunner, coach, military veteran, and proud father. Jason’s most notable achievements include winning the Hardrock 100 and Run Rabbit Run as well as finishing as the top American in the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (4th place, 2014). Jason has had a long and colourful professional running career, filled with adventures all over the globe where he seeks out big mountains in remote regions. In February of 2021, Jason tore his ACL and meniscus while alpine skiing, an event that presented a very different kind of challenge. In this episode we talk about how his relationship with running has changed, and also what has remained consistent over the years. We discuss his recovery and return to running post-surgery, and what the experience taught him. Finally, we discuss Jason’s plans to return to UTMB in August with the goal of becoming the first American to win the event. This is one power packed episode and we hope you enjoy it!

Connect with Jason:

• Instagram: @jasonschlarb
• Coaching: https://jasonschlarb.wixsite.com/moment-coaching-by-j

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Email us with guest ideas: [email protected]
• Inspired Soles Instagram
• 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 welcome Dalip Shekhawat back to the show to tell us all about his most recent adventure, The Jungle Ultra, a 230K 5 stage multi-day event in Manu National Park, deep in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest. You first met Dalip in Episode 30 when we talked about his summit of Mount Everest.  This time we talk about:

• What it’s like traveling on foot through the untamed rainforest
• The wildlife he saw along the way including snakes, monkeys and spiders
• The self supported nature of the race
• The multiple river crossings, mud and constant wet conditions
• How he had to dig deeper than ever to complete stage 4, reportedly the hardest stage of any race in the world.

This is one event that almost sounds like too much, but it wasn’t for Dalip!  His stories reveal the strength of his spirit and love for the earth he travels.

Connect with Dalip:

• Instagram: @dlsshek
• Facebook: Shek Dls
• Strava: Rising Runner group

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Email us with guest ideas: [email protected]
• Inspired Soles Instagram
• 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

Jane Quinton is a 56 year old runner from Winnipeg, MB who, despite not taking up running until her late 40s, has already qualified for Boston four times and ran the iconic race twice. In this episode we dive deep into the weeds of how Jane has become even smarter about her race execution as she’s continued to gain experience in the sport. A few weeks ago at the Fargo Marathon, Jane pulled something off that we’ve only ever seen at the elite level; she ran perfectly even splits of 1:56:52 for the first and second halves of the race, finishing in a time of 3:53:44 and qualifying for Boston with an 11:16 buffer! 

Being successful in the marathon requires more than just superb aerobic fitness - it requires discipline and patience early on in order to have something left to fight with over the final 10K. And we couldn’t think of anyone better to talk about this with than the marathon pacing queen herself, Jane Quinton. 

Connect with Jane: 

• Instagram: @janieq
• Facebook: @jane.quinton.9

Resources we discussed in the episode:

• Favourite Mantra: Settle in, relax, smile. One mile at time Janie, you’ve got this!
• Favourite Place to Run: Trails at Victoria Beach
• Bucket List Race: London Marathon
• Favourite Running Book: Let Your Mind Run by Deena Kastor
• Favourite Post Run Indulgence: Cold beer

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Email us with guest ideas: [email protected]
• Inspired Soles Instagram
• 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

We are excited to welcome another Couple of the Quarter - Jennifer & Matt Hoadley!  Jenn & Matt met in college in Maine and now live just south of Boston, MA with their two children.  While Jenn ran track as a child and into college, Matt didn’t discover his love for running until shortly after he got sober and became a recovering alcoholic in 2013.  Kim met both Matt and Jenn at Gorge Waterfalls in April of this year, and in one short evening discovered they both have an incredible story to share. In this episode, we discuss:

• Matt’s realization he needed to make a big change after he hit bottom
• His decision to get sober cold turkey
• How Matt started and Jenn returned to running later in life
• How running has become a big part of their lives as they now run 100 milers together!
• How they keep their running passion in check and work together to stay in balance in a sport that doesn’t lend itself well to moderation
• We also discuss the paradox of how ultrarunning attracts many in recovery, and how the sport also ironically has a strong beer culture.

Jenn and Matt have been through a lot together and they have come out of life’s challenges stronger than ever, both as a couple and as runners. 

Connect with Jenn: 

• Donate to The Longest Day run for the Alzheimer's Association
• Facebook: @Jennifer.carrollhoadley
• Instagram: @jennifahojenny 

Connect with Matt: 

• Register for his race, Womp Romp 10-mile and 50K
• Facebook: @matthew.hoadley.1
• Instagram: @seasiderunner

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Email us with guest ideas: [email protected]
• Inspired Soles Instagram
• 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

For all you aspiring Boston Marathon runners, this episode is for you! Chris Lemke is a 50 year old runner from Winnipeg who started chasing after his Boston dream in 2017. Over the past 5+ years there have been incredible highs but also excruciating lows, which Chris details beautifully in this conversation. Three weeks ago on May 21, 2022, on his seventh attempt, he crossed the finish line of the Fargo Marathon in a time of 3:19:01, which we’re confident will put him amongst the 30,000 runners to toe next year’s start line in Hopkinton. As Chris’ coach for this training cycle, Carolyn can vouch for his dedication and commitment to the entire process beyond just the running, but she also learned some new things that leave her even more impressed by his accomplishment. If there’s one takeaway from Chris’ story that we can all stand to hear on repeat, it’s to never, ever give up. Your day will eventually come if you simply put your head down and do the work.

Connect with Chris: 

• Instagram: @ywg_runner

Resources we discussed in the episode:

• Episode 64 with Jonathan Torchia
• Episode 28 with Dr. Sylvia Loewen
• Episode 52 with Brandy Adolphe

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Email us with guest ideas: [email protected]
• Inspired Soles Instagram
• 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

Trena Chellino is a married mother of 3 from Atlanta, Georgia. She grew up in eastern Washington state, in the Columbia Valley and  started running 10 years ago at the age of 48 when a hiking friend wanted to run a marathon and invited her along. After completing a few road marathons, she found trail running and never looked back. Now at the age of 58, Trena states her favourite distance is the 100 miler, and she has become a sought after ultra running coach.  

Kim met Trena and shared some miles with her at the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Run 100 mile race in 2019.  They kept in touch and recently reconnected at the Gorge Waterfalls 100K in April. It was there, in their PJs as they laid out their race gear in the hotel room, that she discovered Trena was a devoted fan of the show and also had her own very powerful story to share.

In this episode, we talk about: 

• Trena’s favourite races and moments on course
• The things to consider in choosing your next big race
• The UESCA Ultrarunning Coaching Certification and why she completed it
• How life stress plays an integral part in how we train and race
• Trena’s personal cumulative trauma experience

Finally, we talk about how running has been her companion as she ran away and then back towards on a figurative out and back course of healing and life. Trena opens up and shares her intimate story in a way that only one who has gone to a very dark place and been saved by grace and forgiveness can do.  Her courage and faith have brought her tremendous insight and we know there is someone out there who needs to hear her story.  Episodes like this are why the Inspired Soles podcast exists.

Connect with Trena: 

• https://www.embracingyourjourney.net
• https://trailrunning100.com
• Facebook: @trena.chellino
• Instagram: @trenachellino

Resources we discussed in the episode:

• Favourite Mantra: Stop listening to yourself and start speaking to yourself
• Favourite Place to Run: Kennesaw Mountain 
• Bucket List Race: Western States; Lavaredo (Italy)
• Favourite Running Movie: McFarland, USA
• Favourite Post Run Indulgence: Ice cream

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Email us with guest ideas: [email protected]
• Inspired Soles Instagram
• 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

Nate Riech is one of the biggest names to emerge in Canadian Para athletics in the past few years. He burst onto the international scene in 2018 with world record performances in the 800m and 1500m and since then has continued to lower his own records in the men’s T38 category. Last summer in his Paralympic debut in Tokyo, Nate earned a gold medal for Canada in dominant fashion in the 1500m (3:58.92), letting out a victorious roar at the finish line that made Canadians proud. 

A freak accident on the golf course at the age of 10 resulted in a brain injury which affected the right side of Nate’s body and changed the course of his life. Doctors said he may never walk without a limp, but this only fueled Nate’s desire to work hard and make it to the top of sport like he’d witnessed so many others do in his unusually athletic family. 

Shortly after recording this conversation, Nate was awarded the Para Ambulatory Athlete of the Year (Arnold Boldt Award) by Athletics Canada. We think it’s safe to say that at just 27 years old, Nate has a very promising career ahead and it will be exciting to follow along with him on the track, as well as with everything he’s doing to further the Para Sport movement.

Connect with Nate: 

• Instagram: @nategraywolf
• Nate's YouTube Channel
• Podcast: Strides With Graywolf

Resources we discussed in the episode:

• Nate's gold medal performance in Tokyo
• Favourite Mantra: Tucker Strong; I’m tougher than anyone; Relax & smooth
• Favourite track to Run on: NAU's track in Flagstaff
• Bucket List Race/Event: New York, Hayward Field
• Favourite Running Movies: Prefontaine, Running Brave (the story of Billy Mills)
• Favourite Post Run Indulgence: Butterfinger Blizzard from Dairy Queen , glass of wine

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Email us with guest ideas: [email protected]
• Inspired Soles Instagram
• 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

Sophia Nehlich-Arobba is a Lifestyle Coach and Personal Trainer whose mission is to help people find meaning not just during the highs of their lives, but in the lows as well. She loves sharing her own health, wellness, and self-development journey on her podcast, Flow With the Grow, in hopes that others might relate and take aligned actions on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. 

Sophia fell in love with running right out of the gates in middle school, but during high school and college it gradually became a form of punishment and a way to drop weight. In this episode we discuss many sensitive topics including disordered eating, food restriction, over-exercising, amenorrhea, and body dysmorphia. Sophia shares how finding a good therapist and engaging in personal development were integral in shifting her mindset, rediscovering her love of movement and being grateful for her body. It’s truly incredible what a transformation she has gone through … all before the age of 30.

Connect with Sophia:

• Podcast: Flow With the Grow
• Instagram: @sophia_dawn41

Resources we discussed in the episode:

• Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon in South Dakota
• Our interview with Brandy Adolphe (episode 52)
• Favourite Mantra: Find the joy in your journey
• Favourite Place to Run: Anywhere in nature with mountains, trees, waterfall
• Bucket List Race: Hawaii or another country
• Favourite Running Movie: Prefontaine
• Favourite Post Run Indulgence: Chocolate milk, cheeseburger, fries

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Email us with guest ideas: [email protected]
• Inspired Soles Instagram
• 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 are pleased to welcome Kirsten Fleming and Rachel Munday to the show. Kirsten is the Executive Director of Run Calgary and Rachel is the Executive Director of the Manitoba Marathon and as you’re about to hear, they view themselves as collaborators rather than competitors in their work to put on some of Canada’s top notch race experiences. Both events are returning to their usual spring dates (Calgary May 29th; Manitoba June 19th) for the first time since 2019 and there is definite excitement in the air. 

Going strong since 1963, the Calgary Marathon is Canada’s oldest marathon and has been pleased to offer a 50K distance that has served as the Canadian National Championships since the event’s 50th anniversary in 2014. Founded in 1979, the Manitoba Marathon will once again host the Canadian Half Marathon Championships, and Winnipeggers are extra excited to showcase their beautiful city to some of the nation’s fastest elite athletes who may be visiting for the first time.

Calgary Marathon (5K to 50K) May 29, 2022:

• Register: CalgaryMarathon.com
• Check out Kirsten's other events at RunCalgary.com
• Instagram: @runcalgary

Manitoba Marathon (5K to 50K) June 19, 2022:

• Register: ManitobaMarathon.mb.ca
• Instagram: @manitobamarathon

Resources we discussed in the episode:

• Our interview with Jacob Puzey

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Email us with guest ideas: [email protected]
• Inspired Soles Instagram
• 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].