Today I have the great opportunity to sit down with a man who's doing the work to get people back on their feet, figuratively and literally, but you won't see him parading on social media about his work. So he is what I would consider one of the many unsung heroes of the sports medical world - doing what they can to keep us healthy. And that man is runner, cyclist, footballer and podiatrist, Mark Gallagher.

Mark tells me about his time playing football growing up and why he had a competitive edge despite not being the most technically gifted player.

For the times I have an injury - I know that I prefer seeing a medical practitioner who also has a personal athletic discipline. I ask Mark whether he thinks that gives him an advantage over his colleagues that don't have a sport they play.

We talk about the phenomenon where people tend to minimize their own problems when they see someone else or hear of someone else with a problem greater than their own. Mark tells me how he approaches patient in that situation and it speaks to how he treats all of his patients.

Mark gives me a little tidbit on his suggestion for runners returning from injury I've never heard about before in my 20 years of running. It makes complete sense and I wish it was more widespread in thought than just in his corner of the world.

Mark and I also talk about another common psychological phenomenon - where people only do just enough work to get by instead of working hard enough to recover 100% and prevent problems in the future.

Be sure to stick for the end for Mark's take on my Season 3 question: how do you stay motivated after failing to reach a goal.

Today I have the chance to sit down with the storied CEO of Republic Brands - Paul Marobella.

Despite being in his early 50's he's still playing hockey and keeping engaged with the hockey community as a whole through his efforts to help increase minority representation in hockey as a whole through the NHL's diversity and inclusion council.

Because of his large swath of obligations I have to ask Paul how he is able to fit in all of his work and personal hobbies into his schedule. I often advocate for doing your workouts early in the day to avoid decision fatigue so I wanted to see Paul's take on his own situation.

Paul and I commiserate over the necessity for a team: for all of us. Regardless of whether you play a sport, own a business or are just trying to live your best life.

Given his experience running such large and complex organizations I have to ask Paul about how to deal with setbacks: something we all deal with. Whereas I temporarily lose my sh*t and then fix it, I want to know how does Paul approach his problems.

Before we end our chat we come back around to what it looks like from a boots on the ground level to bring more minority players into hockey.

To see what he's up to now find Paul at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marobella/

https://www.instagram.com/marobella/

https://twitter.com/marobella

How did you sleep last night?

Today the Director of Clinical Sleep Science at Cerebra, Dr. Amy Bender, joins me to discuss how to get a quality sleep - especially for athletes. She's also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at University of Calgary, has helped develop the only validated sleep screening tool for athletes, a former basketball collegiate player and triathlete so I'm sure we're going to have a lot of fun.

We start talking about the two famous football players who sleep a lot including the man who is now one of my hometown's most iconic figures and Dr. Amy tells me why quality of sleep is more important than the duration for athletes.

I also ask her about my own sleep problems like when I get really tired but don't feel sleepy at all. If you feel the same, hear out Dr. Amy's insights about the factors that affect difficulty in sleeping and see if you do such things.

We also dive down the rabbit hole of caffeine: should you, shouldn't you and does it make sense for sports. She shares with me some study about the effects of caffeine on athletes' sleep and her personal experience in taking it.

Lastly, we talk about banking sleep, circadian rhythm, and how useful naps are.

If you are someone who needs to improve sleep and learn more about it, just hit the play button to get started!

Connect with Dr. Amy on:

https://twitter.com/Sleep4Sport

https://www.instagram.com/sleep4sport/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dramymbender/

Today I get the chance to chat with former pro triathlete and the successful entrepreneur who founded Skirt Sports, Nicole DeBoom.

We start off talking about our similarities - especially our need to create things and to not stay still. Nicole describes herself as a great starter, but possibly not the best person to hang around in any given business long term.

And on that note we talk about how she's spent the last year - not working - and figuring out what is next.

It wouldn't be a chat with a triathlete if we don't talk triathlon and we share another goal we both had as we pursued pro careers (her to a much greater degree of success): just to break even.

Much like my own journey to start Solpri - Nicole found inspiration to start her own business while training triathlon and seeing a problem she had that she wanted to solve.

Before we sign off Nicole gives me the inside scoop on her brand new business that wasn't even launched as we recorded this episode.

Her new business is focused on capturing and sharing the stories of our lives and our families lives. Check it out at https://www.inthenood.co/

To get in touch with Nicole go to

https://nicoledeboom.com/

Our guests today bring up new ideas about healthcare and fitness who both completed Masters of Physical Therapy and now are co founders of The Movement physio and co hosts of the PT Coffeecast: Dalton Laino and Will Nicholson.

They introduced themselves as a "married" but "not married" couple and they explain to me what kind of cool relationship they have.

As we begin our discussion, I notice something Will has on which leads us to talk about marketing and branding they do in their business. They also tell me how they influence people to think better about healthcare and fitness - plus giving an example that running isn't bad for knees!

In treating their clients, Dalton and Will share with me their thorough process to ensure that they aren't just treating injuries but also transforming their clients to be resilient. Additionally, they tell me how they help their clients gain their "external locus of control" and how they guide them to be responsible for their own health.

Watch the full video and learn more about how they make their clients transition to a better version of themselves.

Connect with Will and Dalton via:

https://www.instagram.com/willpatnick/

https://www.instagram.com/dlaino.93/

https://www.instagram.com/themvmtpts/

https://www.themovementphysio.ca/

Today I speak to the 514th American sub 4-minute miler and qualified for the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials who is now a senior community manager at Tracksmith, Louis Serafini.

He became an intern in Kraft Sports Group which interests me to talk about his past experiences, and he gladly shares with me how helped in the marketing strategy for the New England Patriots.

Moreover, Louis openly tells how he struggled to plan what his future would be when he was in college and how he put himself to where he is now. He also shares a few tips on how to handle this kind of struggle if you find yourself not knowing what's next.

Talking about his position at Tracksmith as the community manager, there's a lot of interesting programs he prepares to make sure their participants are satisfied being on their team and receive equal treatment.

Particularly I'm interested in how they've built up a growing 5k event called the Twilight 5000 - where community members are given the chance to race a track style 5k like the pros.

His "passion" in serving a community leads him to pursuing a goal that he wants to accomplish before he quits running.

Hit the play button to hear more interesting things from Louis and his thoughts on why sports is cool!

Follow or connect with Louis on:

http://www.instagram.com/tracksmithrunning

https://twitter.com/louisserafini

https://www.linkedin.com/in/louis-serafini-9a17b53b/

A Masters All-American sprinter, Steven Sashen, joins me today to discuss various insights around sports, marketing, and his business, Xero Shoes. He was an internationally-known Internet marketing expert, software designer, and former co-host of TV show, Disk Doctors prior to starting his shoe company.

Before we get into the main agenda, Steven and I share a laugh as we brainstorm funny ideas about things to do in Boulder and why we should start a podcast on Wedding Planning.

Since I have him captive - I ask Steven a bit about why he seems to have bounced around to so many different industries, being what most people would consider successful at the majority of his endeavors.

Which brings us around to his current business he runs with his wife - Xero Shoes. It was started somewhat by accident but it's grown into a big deal.

Steven has also tried a lot of different sports, however, after a 30 year hiatus he picked up sprinting again and we talk about his current career as a masters athletes competing anywhere from the local to the world stage.

Find the shoes at:

https://xeroshoes.com/

Visit the links below to connect with Steven:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sashen

https://twitter.com/XeroShoes

https://www.instagram.com/xeroshoes

https://www.facebook.com/xeroshoes

Today I sit down with a former collegiate and professional hockey player, who is now a trail runner, a running coach at Rugged Conditioning and host of Trail Running Women podcast, Hilary Spires.

Her beginnings in the world of sports came very early as she started playing hockey at the age of 3! She got influenced by her older brothers which led to her leaving ballet and hitting the ice instead. Hilary also shares with me all the other sports she has done in her lifetime - it's a lot.

Hilary's start to her hockey career was unlike many young women in Canada in that she was able to become a pro and also go back to playing collegiately. Something which is generally prohibited - though the circumstances at the time she was brought on to play professionally led to her begin given an exemption - something she didn't appreciate until later on.

We talk about how she adjusted to being on a team as a 16 year old with women twice her age as well as her time in MMA, moving on to trail running and why she is still pursuing new sports every year.

Hilary also speaks to me her insights on how kid athletes should be treated whether he/she lacks in other things.

Watch the full interview to learn more about her experience in major sports and how she performed.

Connect with Hilary Spires in IG https://www.instagram.com/hilsport55/ or visit her website: https://ruggedconditioning.com/

Today, a professional mountain biker joins me to share her wonderful journey of becoming an endurance athlete and an entrepreneur. She's a world champion, a health coach, a podcaster, and the founder of Moxy & Grit, Sonya Looney.

Most of the previous guests I have talked to played a single or a couple of sports to find the best one that suits them. But it's quite different from Sonya who played soccer, tennis, raced marathons, joined a music band, and cycling before she ended up making a name in mountain biking.

Sonya tells me her reason behind trying different sports that really changed her life and helped her reach her goals.

Speaking of reaching goals, she also gives a few reminders for athletes who are trying to only focus on the outcome of their hard work.

So let's hear more from Sonya to find out how she became one of the world's best endurance mountain bikers and what made her join the biggest races in the world.

Learn more about Sonya through visiting her website and following her social media accounts:

https://www.sonyalooney.com/

https://www.facebook.com/looneysonya

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonyalooney/

https://twitter.com/SonyaLooney

You can grab Sarah's book at: https://amzn.to/2WBcp4r

Our guest today is an author of the book, The Trail Runner's Companion, an ultra runner and ultra running coach, Sarah Lavender Smith.

Age doesn't matter in some aspects of life but in sports, Sarah tells me why it's important and she shares with me at what age she started running.

As an ultra running coach, Sarah not only encourages her clients how to excel in their performance but also makes them show humility among their fellow runners in a competition.

I ask Sarah her experience in transitioning from road to trail running and she then provides a few tips for runners doing trail running on how to handle the various adjustments. She also does running alone so she mentions her style when doing it.

There's a lot more to learn from Sarah that you may need to hear to improve your next run especially when it involves altitude adaptation.

Connect with her on:

https://www.therunnerstrip.com

https://www.facebook.com/TheRunnersTrip

https://www.instagram.com/sarahrunning/

Our guest today is an author of the book, The Trail Runner's Companion, an ultra runner and ultra running coach, Sarah Lavender Smith.

Age doesn't matter in some aspects of life but in sports, Sarah tells me why it's important and she shares with me at what age she started running.

As an ultra running coach, Sarah not only encourages her clients how to excel in their performance but also makes them show humility among their fellow runners in a competition.

I ask Sarah her experience in transitioning from road to trail running and she then provides a few tips for runners doing trail running on how to handle the various adjustments. She also does running alone so she mentions her style when doing it.

There's a lot more to learn from Sarah that you may need to hear to improve your next run especially when it involves altitude adaptation.

Connect with her on:

https://www.therunnerstrip.com

https://www.facebook.com/TheRunnersTrip

https://www.instagram.com/sarahrunning/