Being the first to accomplish a historical feat usually comes with fanfare and recognition. Not so for today’s guest, Diane Maiese. Almost 25 years after the fact, Diane learned that she was the first, and as of yet, the only black female to win an NCAA National Championship in Diving and be named four-time All-American. She is also the first black female to coach diving at the division one level and the first to become a FINA-certified judge from the USA. Today, she and Sara discuss:

• Her unique upbringing as a person of color, adopted into an Italian-Catholic family living in a Jewish neighborhood
• Her unconventional discovery and recruitment into the sport of diving
• The moment she was told she wouldn’t go anywhere in the sport
• Body image, eating disorders, and the challenging stigma of “being on display” as a diver
• Her Diving Into Diversity initiatives throughout the US

While it’s an honor to be acknowledged for her accomplishments, Diane admits it isn’t necessarily a celebration. What it has done is fuel her desire to change the landscape of the sport she loves and provide accessibility to diving for everyone so that she is no longer the “first” and “only.”

Diverva.org

Compete Sports Diversity

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Lauren Fleshman has many titles - from being one of the most decorated American distance runners ever, to recently releasing her book, Good for a Girl - a New York Times best-seller. But all of this accomplishment doesn't come without difficulty. This week, Lauren gets real with us and shares her experience of disordered eating, motherhood, and mental health.

Discussing the stereotypes placed upon female athletes, Lauren explains why an "ideal race weight" doesn't exist. Further, her and Sara share their experiences of depression, and what it means to find yourself again through movement. Finally, Lauren highlights the importance of confidence for performance and how she’s helping the next generation of women and girls excel.

Follow Lauren on Instagram @fleshmanflyer

Purchase her book at https://www.laurenfleshman.com/

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When you imagine a high-performance athlete, what qualities do they possess? Determination perhaps? Grit? Tenacity? According to today's guest, self-compassion is actually the key to success.

This week Sara chats with Sports Psychologist Dr. Erin Ayala. Beginning as a professor of Sports Psychology, Erin now takes on clients in all realms of sport - from triathletes to golfers, to rock climbers.

Erin shares some key takeaways from the athletes she's worked with, highlighting the importance of self-compassion and a growth mindset.

Erin and Sara discuss how levels of arousal can alter our ability to perform as we move from rational to emotional thinking and even gives some insight into Feisty Media's latest project!

Follow Erin on Instagram @erineayala

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What does equity mean in sport? Yes, it's women being included, but it's also resources for racing moms, supporting the inclusion of Black folks in historically white sports, having size-inclusive athletic gear, and SO much more. Feisty Media welcomes a panel of women with intersectional identities to celebrate International Women's Day and discuss why equal opportunity is no longer enough. Hosted by Selene Yeager and Sara Gross, guests Khadijah Diggs, Marley Blonsky, and Alison Tetrick share the inequity they've faced in their athletic spaces, and what equity would truly look like for them individually.

Follow Marley on Instagram @marleyblonsky

Follow Khadijah on Instagram @khadijahtriathlete

Follow Ali on Instagram @amtetrick

Alison Mariella Désir is an activist, runner, organizer, and author of the new book, Running While Black. After hearing her speak at the Feisty Women’s Performance Summit in 2022 (before the book was published) we wanted to catch up with Alison, hear how her book has been received, and learn more about her many cultural insights and observations about the Black experience in the running space.

Alison shares how the past year has gone, post book launch, and the specific parts of the book that received pushback and critique. Further, she shares the ways the white culture influences how she presents herself in the world - and how she has worked to heal this. Finally, Alison gets honest about her postpartum depression - as well as the new program she’s designed to combine therapy and movement.

@alisonmdesir

https://alisonmdesir.com/

Founder of  @HarlemRun, @Run4AllWomen, Running Industry Diversity Coalition

Author of Running While Black, purchase here

Nutritionist mentioned: @black.nutritionist

Join us on March 7th at 4pm PST for our International Women's Day Panel Discussion

www.womensperformance.com/iwd

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Finding trustworthy and accurate information as a pregnant athlete can be extremely challenging. How much can you train? Will it hurt the baby? How high can I get my heart rate? This is the exact problem Maurya ran into when she first found out she was pregnant. Now 34 weeks, we welcome Maurya onto the podcast to share her pregnancy experience as an All-American triathlete.

Maurya tells us some of the major roadblocks she encountered regarding finding accurate information. The duo discusses the specific training programs they followed during their pregnancies, and how pregnancy changed their performance ability. They tackle the widespread misinformation about active soon-to-be moms, and highlight the importance of staying active while pregnant.

Links mentioned:

Exercise and Sporting Based Activity through Pregnancy: Evidenced Based Guidelines

Exercising Through Your Pregnancy

Caring for the Pregnant Athlete - British Journal of Sport Management

Join us to kick off International Women's Day! https://www.womensperformance.com/iwd 

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There’s a lot of information circling about what women can and can’t do while pregnant. From lifting to running marathons, we wanted to get to the bottom of this. This week we welcome Dr. Kristi Adamo of Adamo Lab - a researcher who was involved in the groundbreaking 2022 study following the training habits of 42 elite runners through pregnancy and postpartum.

Dr. Adamo outlines the study itself and turns out - 56% of athletes ran FASTER postpartum. Further, research now shows that, for healthy pregnancies, exercise is good for both pregnant individuals and their babies. Sara also shares her experience of pregnancy as an elite triathlete and how it changed her career for the better.

http://www.adamolab.com/

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Is there a recipe for mental toughness? Is resilience something we can work on and will it lead to increased success? This week, we welcome Alyssa Godesky to help us get some insight into how she became mentally tough and some tools every individual can use to help us achieve more. Alyssa is a record-setting endurance athlete, coach, and the host of the IronWomen podcast. Throughout her career, she has been a professional triathlete, set multiple FKT's (fastest known time) including the Vermont Long Trail, and competed in various adventure races, including the Barkley Marathons.

Alyssa shares how she prepared for and set records on not one, but three multi-day trail runs and what it took for her to push herself to the limits. The duo discusses what it actually means to be mentally tough, and how the key to success lies in your brain - not your body.

Follow Alyssa on Instagram @alyssagodesky

Vist her website at https://www.alyssagodesky.com/

And listen to Ironwomen here

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Okay, y'all. We are sensing A LOT of confusion around female physiology and training with your cycle. That's why this week, we welcome exercise scientist Alyssa Olenick, PhD to clear up misconceptions about female physiology and performance. Alyssa unpacks what the phases of our cycle are, and how we can work to support our bodies during these various phases. And she is clear that no matter what, we are capable.

Alyssa shares her "miracle baby" story, which was the first spark for her journey in sport and female physiology. She gives us the details of the new studies on mitigating menstrual cycle symptoms and discusses the negative effects of dieting, the importance of carb intake, and the benefits of caffeine. Finally, Alyssa tells us about the impacts of hormonal birth control on training. Take away message? Don't let anyone tell you that your menstrual cycle is limiting.

Follow Alyssa on Instagram @doclyssfitness

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Despite not being A TON of research on female physiology, it seems like everyone is offering up different information, especially concerning menstruation and performance. That's why this week, we are sharing one of the informative sessions from our past Women's Performance Summit.

In this session, Kerry McGawley shares a deep literature review of current research on female physiology in relation to menstruation and performance. Reviewing studies about the percentage of athletes tracking their period and what hormonal symptoms athletes experience specifically - Kerry dives even deeper by discussing statistics surrounding male coaches and how this affects menstruation communication.

This episode is CHALK FULL of important information on Women's Performance. A must listen.

Follow Kerry on Instagram @kerrymcgawley

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