Seize the Yay

We are so lucky to have had so many wonderful Olympians on the podcast over the years, so to celebrate Olympic fever during Paris 2024 we are throwing it back to some of our favourites who are competing again this year. Olympians aren't allowed to do audio or video interviews from within the Olympic village, so we sadly had to postpone a few follow ups to these that we had locked in. But one thing we love about the podcast is being able to reflect on how far we've come and having a record of how we felt a moment in time. So I hope you enjoy looking back as much as we did!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

While I was up in Sydney, I was lucky enough to spend time with Madison de Rozario, three-time Paralympian who is heading off for her fourth in Tokyo this year. Madi made her Paralympic debut in wheelchair racing at just 14 years old at the Beijing 2008 games taking home three silver medals since then as well as a string of other accolades and achievements. She is an incredible role model and advocate for the visibility of the disabled community, reshaping our perception of disability and truly going after your dreams.

As you’ll hear, she is delightfully bubbly, humble and articulate and it’s no surprise to me that she was named the 2020 Barbie Australian Shero (that’s she-hero) as part of Barbie’s Global Role Model campaign inspiring women the world over with a one of a kind doll. As one of my favourite childhood brands, I’ve loved learning how Barbie is inspiring the limitless potential of every girl introducing different body types, hair, skin and everything in between and as you’ll see in the episode image, Madi’s doll comes complete with her racing chair. Madi’s excitement and drive is infectious and I hope you enjoy hearing her story!

+ Follow Madison here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Join our Facebook community here

+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Join our Facebook community here

+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are so lucky to have had so many wonderful Olympians on the podcast over the years, so to celebrate Olympic fever during Paris 2024 we are throwing it back to some of our favourites who are competing again this year. Olympians aren't allowed to do audio or video interviews from within the Olympic village, so we sadly had to postpone a few follow ups to these that we had locked in. But one thing we love about the podcast is being able to reflect on how far we've come and having a record of how we felt a moment in time. So I hope you enjoy looking back as much as we did!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Welcome back to our Power Your Inner Runner podcast series in partnership with Nike Running and Rebel. This is our second of three episodes with elite Nike athletes who are sharing their best running tips and tricks - whether you’re a complete beginner all the way through to a pro looking for a fresh perspective.

It’s been so wonderful to see how many of you enjoyed our kick-off episode on mindset with the wonderful Catriona Bisset and have already been implementing some of your learnings into your training. My top takeaway was the power of running with friends – I’ve been enjoying running alone for the mental benefits but hadn’t realised how much harder it can be to push into new distances when you’re on your own. So, I locked in my first long run with Ang and a few friends just a few days after this chat with Catriona and went from a solid 10km plateau to a lovely 18KM RUN and I could have kept going but didn’t want to overdo it by going too hard too fast. I’m so thrilled with the breakthrough and hope that some of you found Catriona’s chat useful too – do keep sharing your runs with us along the way, it’s so much fun to do this as a yayborhood!

Given I also had a sneak peek of this episode, I had the chance to implement some other tweaks recommended by today’s Nike athlete which were equally as impactful so I’m VERY excited to share this one with you. In case you were worried, the episodes aren’t sequential, so if you’re only tuning in now don’t worry each segment stands alone and you can listen in whatever order you like. I met this wonderful woman during my first foray into running when we were training for the half marathon in 2019 and even though I’ve heard her story before, I was blown away all over again this time. While Catriona was a sprinter focusing on the 800m, we’ve got a long-distance perspective today from a superstar Olympic marathoner.

Yep, I’m THRILLED to have the inimitable Sinead Diver with us today who, like Catriona, took a less conventional pathway into running. She is not only one of our best performing marathon runners ever at the Olympics coming in the top 10 in Tokyo – she was also our oldest athlete competing at 44 years old to cross just the line just four minutes behind the race winner. The twist? Sinead only started running AFTER her second child at aged 33 when she was roped into a fun run at the Tan in Melbourne. In her debut marathon, she finished in SECOND place overall then won Melbourne Marathon just four years later and she just keeps getting faster and faster.

So, if you’ve ever been told you can’t do it or had sceptics doubting your potential, Sinead is your woman showing how she continues to surprise with her sights set on Paris 2024 as she continues to improve each year. She also answers so many of our burning questions specific to longer distances, especially around the elusive management of eating, drinking and nature calling along the way! Coming into running later in life, she’s a fabulous brain to pick about getting your body and mind into those 30 and 40km distances and living to tell the tale! She’s humble, funny and full of warmth – I hope you enjoy!

+ Follow Sinead Diver here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Join our Facebook community here

+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are so lucky to have had so many wonderful Olympians on the podcast over the years, so to celebrate Olympic fever during Paris 2024 we are throwing it back to some of our favourites who are competing again this year. Olympians aren't allowed to do audio or video interviews from within the Olympic village, so we sadly had to postpone a few follow ups to these that we had locked in. But one thing we love about the podcast is being able to reflect on how far we've come and having a record of how we felt a moment in time. So I hope you enjoy looking back as much as we did!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Welcome to the very first episode of our Power Your Inner Runner podcast series. I am so thrilled to be partnering with Nike Running and rebel, to bring you three elite Nike athletes who will help us build our running toolkit - whether this be your first venture into running or you’re seasoned and ready to go further, faster and fresher than ever.

If you’ve been listening since the early days, you’ll have witnessed the transformative power of sport in my life, with the remarkable conversion from non-runner – or dare I say even anti-runner – to signing up, voluntarily, for my second half marathon this year and ACTUALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO IT. Six transformative months back in 2019 with the incredible team at Nike taught me all about gradually building your distance, warming up and warming down, fuelling yourself properly and, crucially, wearing the right gear.

I’ve been revisiting all those lessons again, turning back to longer runs as a physical, mental and therapy-like outlet during lockdown spurring me to sign up for another 21.1km at Melbourne Marathon. When that was pushed back to December, we had some extra time up our sleeves to consult the experts and with just over six weeks to go, I’m SO excited to be able to share them with you thanks to the support and generosity of rebel and Nike.

I was surprised but thrilled to see how many of you in the yayborhood are also on your own running journey! And thank you all so much to those who submitted questions for our guests. The next three episodes have been split into different themes, focusing on the topics YOU want to hear about most!

Introducing, Catriona Bisset...

As to our very first guest, I’m delighted to have with us the incredible Catriona Bisset – Olympian, Nike Athlete and Lifeline Ambassador, to help us lay some strong foundations with mindfulness and mindset. If I’ve learnt anything over the past few years, it’s that your mind will often give up way before your body will, so getting your head in the game first is crucial.

Catriona found her first successes in running at just six years old but took a hiatus from the sport to work on her mental health, pursuing studies in architecture at university. When she did resume racing, however, in a very short amount of time she became the first Australian woman in a decade to break the two-minute barrier – and went from strength to strength to race earlier this year in the 800m at the Tokyo Olympics.

You’ll hear all of the details in between from Catriona herself as we cover her pathYAY first then her tips and tricks for managing mental health, building speed, and navigating the relationship between success and the self. What a CRACKING first episode to kick off with, I hope you all enjoy.

+ Follow Catriona Bisset here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Join our Facebook community here

+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are so lucky to have had so many wonderful Olympians on the podcast over the years, so to celebrate Olympic fever during Paris 2024 we are throwing it back to some of our favourites who are competing again this year. Olympians aren't allowed to do audio or video interviews from within the Olympic village, so we sadly had to postpone a few follow ups to these that we had locked in. But one thing we love about the podcast is being able to reflect on how far we've come and having a record of how we felt a moment in time. So I hope you enjoy looking back as much as we did!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I’m joined this week by our first Wulli Wulli woman, Beach volleyball Olympian and Commonwealth silver medallist, Taliqua Clancy. You’ve probably seen I’ve been reflecting on Seize the Yay’s commitment to diversity (of all kinds), but also, in light of the past few weeks, the best way to contribute to the BIPOC dialogue specifically and Taliqua is the first of a few wonderful guests coming up who offer some generously personal and thought provoking insights to the conversation.

Growing up in Kingaroy QLD (otherwise known as “peanut town”) over 200km from the nearest beach, you wouldn’t expect Olympic success at beach volleyball to be in Taliqua’s future. And yet, she reached the quarter finals in the Rio Olympics becoming the first Aboriginal Olympian to compete in the sport and is on her way to the slightly delayed Tokyo Olympics next year. Taliqua is also an Ambassador for our mutually beloved Cadbury who are launching an amazing Smart Watch campaign this week to support us all staying active in #iso which you’ll hear more about. I hope you enjoy as much as I did…

NOTE: Terra Nullius is the concept we discussed, that you might want to research.

+ Follow Taliqua here

+ Find out more about the Cadbury Smart Watch campaign here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Join our Facebook community here

+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are so lucky to have had so many wonderful Olympians on the podcast over the years, so to celebrate Olympic fever during Paris 2024 we are throwing it back to some of our favourites who are competing again this year. Olympians aren't allowed to do audio or video interviews from within the Olympic village, so we sadly had to postpone a few follow ups to these that we had locked in. But one thing we love about the podcast is being able to reflect on how far we've come and having a record of how we felt a moment in time. So I hope you enjoy looking back as much as we did!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I just cannot believe how quickly 2020 is approaching. Speaking of 2020, I am SUCH a big fan of the Olympics I get so excited when they come back around and in the lead up to Tokyo 2020, I’m so delighted to have 4 x Olympic Medallist, Emma McKeon, on the show for today’s episode.

Being born into a swimming family with her dad as her coach and her brother also an Olympic swimmer, Emma competed at the Summer Youth Olympics before she had even finished school. She missed out on selection for London 2012, but came back in Rio to win a gold, two silvers and an individual bronze and is now preparing rigorously for Tokyo 2020. Knowing absolutely nothing about the swimming world, and LOVING finding out about worlds I’ve never ventured into, I had a blast chatting to Emma all about her training, what it’s like to swim in the Olympics, goal setting and then of course, how she plays. She is also a fellow converted runner adding running to her training having proudly joined the Nike family a few years ago. We did this over the phone so her audio isn’t as clear as usual, but hope you enjoy nonetheless.

+ Follow Emma at @emmamckeon

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are so lucky to have had so many wonderful Olympians on the podcast over the years, so to celebrate Olympic fever during Paris 2024 we are throwing it back to some of our favourites who are competing again this year. Olympians aren't allowed to do audio or video interviews from within the Olympic village, so we sadly had to postpone a few follow ups to these that we had locked in. But one thing we love about the podcast is being able to reflect on how far we've come and having a record of how we felt a moment in time. So I hope you enjoy looking back as much as we did!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Welcome back, lovely yayborhood! Thank you so much for your patience over the past few weeks – I can’t believe I was so anal about having episodes in the bank for our trip but then ended up taking a break anyway with ANOTHER super cold. I hope you’re all looking after yourselves and are keeping healthy in cold and flu season!

It worked out though, as I couldn’t think of a cooler guest to kick off the second half of the year than the legend I have in store for you today. You probably know by now that I get SOOO excited by people whose brains tick as crazily and deeply as mine likes to, so I was like a kid in a candy store with this guest and felt the least articulate I have in a long time next to his eloquence!

I am endlessly fascinated by Harry Garside and it seems most of Australia and the world shares that view and not only because he is a championship boxer who won the nation’s first medal in boxing at the Olympics in over three decades in Tokyo. While his rise to international success from losing 10 out of his first 18 fights at the humble Lilydale Youth Club is also fascinating, I still don’t think that’s the reason we’re so enamoured with him.

While Harry’s upbringing and beloved sport align very strongly with traditional ideas about masculinity and strength, it’s his unique passion for changing those stereotypes that I fell in love with complementing his training with ballet classes and wearing nail polish to some of his fights. Just when you think you’ve figured him out, he reveals a whole new facet of himself and his view on the world and I could ramble on about how much it stretched my own mind getting to have this conversation.

I’ll let you hear it for yourself as this is one of my favourites all year so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

FOLLOW HARRY HERE

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Join our Facebook community here

+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are so lucky to have had so many wonderful Olympians on the podcast over the years, so to celebrate Olympic fever during Paris 2024 we are throwing it back to some of our favourites who are competing again this year. Olympians aren't allowed to do audio or video interviews from within the Olympic village, so we sadly had to postpone a few follow ups to these that we had locked in. But one thing we love about the podcast is being able to reflect on how far we've come and having a record of how we felt a moment in time. So I hope you enjoy looking back as much as we did!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I would almost go so far as to say it would be un-Australian not to know who today’s guest is or have shed a tear watching her incredible Olympic performance in Tokyo a few weeks ago. While all our athletes bore the weight of great expectations on their shoulders, having debut-ed at the London Olympics at 18 years old to win silver, then taking a Bronze in Rio, Jess Fox probably faced more pressure than most as she tackled the canoe slalom. Add two Olympic canoeists as parents (one as Jess’ coach) AND the fact that Tokyo was the first ever Olympics to include the C1 class (which you’ll learn about in our chat) for women, and I had a breakdown just thinking about competing. And yet, the legendary Jess charged her way through to a gold medal (just 48 hours after taking bronze in the K1 class) and lived to tell the tale.

If you listen often, you might be able to recognise my fan-girl related babbling – I talk quickly and inarticulately when I get this excited and I was chuffed to have this amazing woman on the show just weeks after her win while she’s already preparing for the World Cup in Spain. Even more so because I know she’s been listening to Seize the Yay since 2019, which blows. my. mind. If you watched Jess at the games and thought her warmth and humility shone through on TV, she is equally as delightful one-on-one and I learnt so much about canoeing, maintaining razor sharp focus and allowing yourself to focus on doing your best rather than winning being your only objective. We also clarified the condom story, among many other chuckles and plays to yay outside of sport – I hope you guys enjoy getting to know our champion as much as I did!

+ Follow Jess here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Join our Facebook community here

+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to the show after approximately 92 Business Months since the last episode, I am so grateful for your patience during our extended hiatus. It’s actually only been 10 weeks but feels like I’ve lived 10 lifetimes since then and I’d planned for a much shorter gap, but we’re here now and it’s SO good to be back!

I couldn’t have picked a better first guest back than Matilda Murray as you’ll hear she’s pretty much a walking embodiment of Seize the Yay and articulates everything that’s in my head but better AND in a way you haven’t already heard me parrot on about before. I was actually quite nervous feeling a bit dusty going into this one after so long, but I found it so invigorating to hear some of my favourite life philosophies in a new way and hope you do too.

I have followed Matilda for many years and her pathYAY represents so many things we love on the show – she and her partner Don are now the brains behind multimillion dollar activewear brands Stax and Second Left living their dreams showing at Paris Fashion Week and opening new stores left right and centre… BUT she didn’t finish school, started in a job she didn’t love that lasted many years and Stax was a pivot from an originally failed business.

It’s the perfect example of the staircase quote I always bang on about only she has a WAY better analogy that blew my mind! She’s also become an institution in and of herself and you’ll soon understand why the masses hang on to her every word – I loved this chat so much and it gave me so much love back for the show – I hope it does for you too!!!

Follow Matilda here

Check out STAX here

Check out Second Left here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Join our Facebook community here

+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A whole month (and sixteen failed attempts) later, I finally found some time to record the follow up to our birth story episode and answer all your questions. Thank you so much to everyone who sent lovely DMs and feedback after the first episode hosted by the wonderful Sophie of Australian Birth Stories and for submitting such interesting follow up questions that give me the loveliest excuse to reflect on things in a way I probably wouldn't otherwise make time for.

It's never lost on me what a privilege it is for this yayborhood to be so engaged and excited about each season of our life (and to be so patient with a very inconsistent schedule for releasing episodes!) I can't promise my answers are any less incoherent than they were in the last episode - the postpartum haze is still going strong - but I did my very best and can't actually believe we got through it before the little bear demanded my full attention back.

My only disclaimer is that parenthood is like no other area in life for the diversity of opinions, volume of conflicting information, intensity of judgment (both from ourselves and others) and depth of emotion. If I have one piece of advice, it's that NO advice will suit every parent or every baby so please take everything I say as the personal anecdote it is - I'm not a medical expert and am still very early in our journey, so my answers are purely from our experience so far.

Having said that, I've tried to be as helpful as I can (amidst the rambling and tangents of this new Mum brain) and the questions are listed below so you can skip forward to what's relevant to you. There are some links where relevant too and, as always, if you have any other questions feel free to DM any time.

DELIVERY

• Did you feel any warning going into labour?
• Why did you choose private health vs public health? (AUBS public vs private episode)
• Hospital bag recommendations (The Memo's hospital bag list and if you want my personal list just send me an email)
• What did you wear post op? (the disposable undies, the pads, the nightie)
• Did you go straight back to a normal diet after gestational diabetes?

C SECTION

• What would you take in your hospital bag for a C section?
• Were you panicky or anxious going into C section?
• C section recovery – how long?
• Tips for recovery?
•  Incision care? Mental health?
• Immediately after, how were you – could you get up?
• What recovery shorts or items did you wear? (the briefs, the shorts, the compression socks)

FEEDING

• How was the beginning of breastfeeding? (the silverettes, the lanolin, the compresses, the Qiara probiotics)
• Are you doing mixed feeding? Bottles? Expressing? (the ladybug milk collectors)

GETTING HOME

• Did you feel overwhelmed when you got home?
• Biggest challenge in the first few days?
• First few weeks post-partum, how were they?
• Top 3 tips for new parents in first few weeks
• Most difficult part of recovery generally?
• Is it worth having both the Snoo and Cocoona baby?
• How is Teddy’s sleep?
• How much time are you taking off?
• Have you grieved your work identity vs being a Mum?
• How have you made time for you as a couple?

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Join our Facebook community here

+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.