Sole Sisters TalkHER

In today's episode I talk about having the goal of qualifying for Kona, the Ironman World Championships. Initially this was not a goal of mine but when I saw the results of my third Ironman and discovered I missed the podium by one spot and Kona by five minutes. It was game on. Ironically my good friend Eric told me as I ran past him in in the marathon portion of the event that he thought I was going to Kona and I said "No, I am not!" I just couldn't believe I was fast enough to go to Kona but if I had believed him. If I had dug a bit deeper with the knowledge of how close I was, then I very likely would have gone to Kona that year. Instead, I spent a year training with the knowledge that I was a contender for Kona. But, I knew I needed to be five minutes faster. In this episode I discuss with my husband Tim some of the things I did differently in training to make sure I was faster. And when race day dawned with the worst conditions Lake Placid had ever had for an Ironman I need those precious minutes. There are a couple of funny stories thrown in to boot.

Back in the day, Juan and I used to run together in New York City (where he still lives). In today's podcast Juan and I have a conversation about how he is using running to stay active and to stay positive during Covid.  Over the years Juan and I have raced together a lot. I have often told the story of our "AWESOME" New York City Marathon when he taught me how important what you say/think matters. And while we have done too many New York City and Boston Marathons to count, he does remind me in this podcast he saved my Boston Marathon in 2012 by having sunflower seeds for me at mile 17.  That salt was exactly what I needed.  In our conversation Juan shares some really good advice about positive affirmations, using stairs to improve running, surrounding yourself with high achievers and how he has never regretted a run once it's done so that motivates him to get out of bed most mornings to run. I appreciated the walk down memory lane and getting a chance to reminisce with my good friend, I think you'll learn a little something too.

Our third episode of Sole Sisters - The Podcast will be launching on Friday, March 12th. Over the years Juan and I have raced together a lot and in this conversation he gives me some AWESOME running advice and reminds me of the time he saved my Boston Marathon by giving me salty sunflower seeds at mile 17. 

Back in November 2016 I completed a 100 mile trail race. This is the story of my limited training (100 days that included a 36 mile self supported practice run on the actual race course and 4 marathons to "practice") and a conversation with the complete stranger that stepped up to be my crew and pacer. I had an amazing VIRTUAL CREW back at home in Nova Scotia that supported me by sending good vibes, going for an organized run and watching my progress; a few of the toughest/craziest stayed up for the entire 21 hours 33 minutes and 16 seconds it took me to finish my race. They sent so much good energy to me that I felt it. But, I wasn't able to talk to any of them or my coach so as my Momma says, "you get what you get" in this podcast and maybe I'll get someone to talk to me later about their experience of virtually crewing. If you stick around to the very end I hope you laugh at my story of trying to get an elevator once I returned to my hotel after the race. All I wanted was to get to my room but I was moving so slowly I missed three elevators. If you think you've had a bad marathon shuffle, you ain't seen nothing until you see it for the 100 miles. 

This Friday we will be uploading the next episode (#2) from Sole Sisters - The Podcast. 

For my 100 mile trail race I had an amazing VIRTUAL CREW back home in Nova Scotia that gave me the best virtual support you can imagine. However, I did not have a crew, a pacer or even someone that would be at the start or finish with me. I was gonna go do the biggest thing I had ever attempted alone. Until a complete stranger decided to give up her weekend and drive 19 hours to be there for me. We’ll talk about that and the race on Friday when the episode is released. 

In honor of Valentine's Day, Stacy takes a trip down memory lane with her friend Melissa as they talk about how their love of marathons began. Both women trained together for their first marathon back in 1992. The girls followed a two-week training plan that only worked because they were 18 and 21. In this podcast they reminisce about what it was like to want to do a marathon before marathons were cool.* Despite doing everything wrong, they agree that they both loved the marathon right away. Between the two runHERs they have done 87 marathons and at least one of the runHERs is a marathon addict. Stacy's favorite marathon accomplishment is running a 2:59:05 in her 30th marathon before the invention of those speedy carbon shoes.

Melissa and Stacy didn't let lack of knowledge stop them from trying something new. We feel the same way about this podcast. It is not polished and we clearly have a lot to learn in recording and editing. But, we hope you'll stick around as we get better at podcasting. We certainly got better at marathons.

* We believe, one individual more than any other is responsible for the marathon boom that has made doing a marathon a bucket list activity. The runHER responsible for it, is Oprah Winfrey who did her marathon in 1994. Ms. Winfrey brought marathons to the masses and more importantly she brought it to women. In a future podcast we'll discuss the history of women's long distance running that we all take for granted now. 

Sole Sisters Women's Race is launching a podcast this winter. Race Director (aka "Coach Stacy") has a big goal. She wants to have the first episode done by her 50th birthday. But, that is in 13 days so we need your help now.  Do you know a Sole Sister with a story that you think is inspiring? Are you a Sole Sister with a story to tell? Remember you have to BE THE INSPIRATION. Email: [email protected] or you can message us on our social media channels if you have ideas. There is no telling where this podcast will go but you have a prolific talkHER in Coach Stacy so she has high hopes this will be something that "almost" makes up for us not being together in person.