I am a perfectionist. I try to be perfect in everything I do. No one is perfect, it is impossible. It causes me undue stress, and I do way too much. Oftentimes, I feel like I am not good enough. I don’t show myself enough grace.
When Covid hit in 2020, I found myself having to shift. Just like most of us. Work was not the same. The world was not the same. All my races were cancelled. We had no organized bike rides, no group swim classes. My community was no more. My finances took a hit, I lost one of my favourite uncles to COVID. I found myself isolated at home. At first, I had contact with a positive person on a ski trip so I had to be quarantined and could not go back to the hospital. I ended up getting COVID following that same ski trip. Living isolated away from friends, family, and my normal activities took a toll on me. Then I had to have surgery, had to recover , and try to get back to skiing, racing, travelling, life.
The last two years have been challenging. I’ve been tested. Listen in to learn how I’m working on being kinder to myself in life, my athletic endeavours and in my personal life.
Episode Highlights:
The pandemic and having to shift
My experience at The National Brotherhood of Skiers summit in 2020
The need to keep going without taking a break
Getting stuck on what should have been instead of what is
Get a copy of the book Running Is Cheaper Than Therapy: A Journey Back to Wholeness👉🏾here. It is available in hardback, paperback, and newly released audio form
Andrew Williams was very active in sports as a child. As he grew older he was more focused on academics. After he got married, and the birth of his first child he gained weight. It was at that time that he started focusing on running to lose weight . His inspiration to complete a Full Distance Ironman race was born after watching Dick and Rick Hoyt (Team Hoyt) on ESPN.
Andrew refers to himself as an unconventional triathlete. He will not miss a family event for training nor is he attached to any training programs.
He believes racing is about showing his family that you can set goals and achieve them. All it takes is discipline and dedication.
Listen and learn about how Andrew stays disciplined in this sport and how he became comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Episode Highlights:
All the sports Andrew enjoyed playing as a child
Building his physical endurance by running
How he progressed to longer races
Completing his first Ironman 70.3 race in Augusta
What new triathletes can learn on discipline and commitment
Staying committed to his family and to the sport
Guest Bio:
Andrew was born and raised in Racine, WI. Throughout his childhood, he was very active in sports with a primary focus on Basketball. After freshman year he decided to concentrate on academics. During college and early in marriage fitness was not his primary focus either. He got up to 250 lbs during his wife’s pregnancy in 2002 and decided to join a gym at that time. His inspiration to complete a Full Distance Ironman race was struck after watching Triathletes Dick and Rick Hoyt (Team Hoyt) on ESPN.
After moving to Atlanta, his friend Reggie mentioned that he did some short distance triathlon races and he just completed IM Augusta 70.3 and suggested that it was a great race for newer triathletes.
After completing Augusta, he felt ready to take on his bucket list item and signed up for Ironman Chattanooga in 2016. Fast forward to 2022, Andrew has completed 7 Full Distance Ironman Races and multiple 70.3.
It is a lifestyle for him. He shares this journey with his wife and kids. They come to most of his races and are very proud and excited to see him race. He is an unconventional triathlete who’s never had a coach and any training plan.
His family always comes first. Andrew has mastered the discipline of being able to stay out on a Friday night, drink and enjoy life and get up Saturday morning at 5:00 am for a 6-hour bike ride.
He coaches little league baseball, volunteers at his kids’ school and manages a Global Team and travels for work. This is what “Anything is Possible” means for Andrew.
Get a copy of the book Running Is Cheaper Than Therapy: A Journey Back to Wholeness👉🏾here. It is available in hardback, paperback, and newly released audio form
Eric Carson has been living an active lifestyle since the 90s that most of us would be happy to emulate.
He started cycling just to get to campus and back. A friend of his asked him to do a 25-mile bike ride. He thought it was a long way back then.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought him back to cycling, and it became a good addiction and a lifestyle.Carson says his greatest joy out of cycling is camaraderie. He enjoys having a great time outdoors with his tribe.
Episode Highlights:
How Eric got into cycling
How he moved from solo rides to cycling with groups
Getting his motorcycle in 2001
How a sports group changes as members change with time
Struggling to stay active when Covid hit in 2020
Cycling again for the pleasure of meeting friends and having a great time
How to get into cycling and find your cycling tribe
Guest Bio:
Eric was borned and raised in Stamford Ct. He has one brother. Played all three major sports in high school (football, baseball, & basketball)
He received my BS in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University. While there, he had my first introduction to casual biking. He commuted back and forth to campus and work. He did one 25 mile ride at a request of a friend. and thought that was crazy.
He started taking it a little more seriously in the early 90s and did a few multiple sclerosis rides from Richmond to Williamsburg (160 miles over 2 days). That stretch in the 90s culminated in doing one of the Aids Bike Rides in 1997…..a 4 day 365 mile ride from Raleigh NC to Washington DC. He found it very fulfilling.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought him back to cycling, and it became a good addiction and a lifestyle.
Get a copy of the book Running Is Cheaper Than Therapy: A Journey Back to Wholeness👉🏾here. It is available in hardback, paperback, and newly released audio form
When the doctor told Yolanda Holloway that she needed to turn her life around, it was the beginning of her endurance sports journey. What started as a few steps around the block led the Florida native to one of her greatest running adventures in Antarctica for the White Continent Marathon.
The greatest lesson for her has been building up mental toughness.
There was a time when she didn’t believe that she could do this, but each race pushed her limits. She believes that anything is possible and we can do hard things. To date, she has completed 70 marathons and 33 half marathons.
You will learn that anything is possible in this episode, Yolanda’s 2-day experience in Antarctica, taking swimming classes for her first triathlon and how running has shaped her.
Episode Highlights:
How she started a 3-mile route around the neighbourhood
Running her first 5k and feeling motivated
Progressing to her first 10k
Racing in her first marathon in Disney
Her greatest running adventure, the White Continent Marathon
Taking swimming classes for her first triathlon
Her bucket list to race in all 7 continents
Guest Bio:
Yolanda Holloway Stevens began her journey into endurance sports in 2012. What merely started as a desire to get active after two ACL surgeries and subsequent weight gain, turned into attaining goals beyond her wildest dreams.
In April 2012, Yolanda completed her goal of finishing a 5k race. The feeling of accomplishment sparked a fire that led her to register for her first half marathon in December later that year. Since 2012, she has completed 17 marathons and 33 half marathons. Her greatest marathon adventure occurred in January of 2020, where she traveled to Antarctica to run 26.2 miles on the White Continent.
In 2016, Yolanda set out to conquer a new challenge…triathlon! There was just one problem. She didn’t know how to swim. She registered for her first race, then set out to find a coach to teach her how to swim. Yolanda finished her first sprint triathlon in 2017, and has since completed in 3 half Ironman races, 2021 USAT National Championship-Olympic Distance, and crossed the finish line of her first full Ironman race in Cozumel, Mexico in November 2021.
Yolanda is a mother of two, and works as a Senior Director of Human Resources for a multimedia publishing company, and is a 4th year brand ambassador for Betty Designs.
Get a copy of the book Running Is Cheaper Than Therapy: A Journey Back to Wholeness👉🏾here. It is available in hardback, paperback, and newly released audio form
We all in this life have goals, aspirations, things we’re trying to improve on, whether it be relationships, whether it be professionally, whether it be an athletic endeavor, we all have goals.
We all are in a process of learning, evolving, trying to be a better version each and every day. In this process of this journey, called life, we all will fail at something.
Though I hate to fail, I learned the most from my failures. I learn the most when I’m down, I learn in the process of failing how to succeed. I learn to be humble.
In order to succeed, we all need help, we all learn from those who come before us. We need to learn from those who paved the way. It is in this process that we grow.
This episode is an appreciation of how failures shape us.
Episode Highlights:
My journey into medical school
Tough seasons in medical school and failing tests
Getting into Orthopedics
Surviving the loss of my parents
Seeking professional help for my depression
Lessons you need as you get into endurance sports
My biggest lesson as a recovering perfectionist
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Get a copy of the book Running Is Cheaper Than Therapy: A Journey Back to Wholeness👉🏾here. It is available in hardback, paperback, and newly released audio form
Listen to your body because your body is always talking to you. The day Dawn paid attention to stubborn chest pain is the day she saved her life. That’s why she is still here today.
80% of heart disease can be prevented.
Eating right and exercising often is not enough. Dawn advocates for a regular check-up. As an athlete, she was a most unlikely candidate for heart disease. By knowing and understanding her body, she was determined to know the root cause of her chest pain.
Listen to learn more about her running experience, surviving her heart condition, advocating for your body and how to find the right doctor.
Episode Highlights:
Her running experience since middle school
Her favorite race
How she got into coaching and race management
Her health scare in 2019
Why her persistence saved her life
Knowing your body and advocating for your body
Guest Bio:
Dawn Angelique Roberts is an energetic detail-oriented team player and an award-winning communication professional with over 25 years of experience in journalism, media relations, sports marketing and event management.
Roberts is the owner of Elite Access Running, a full-service race management and wellness company that specializes in event management, public relations, social media and wellness for athletes, organizations, and premier races.
As a USATF certified coach Roberts provides one-on-one and group coaching for runners, pace team coordination for races and her company Elite Access Travel organizes destination races for athletes and organizations.
A native of Philadelphia, Roberts is passionate about running and traveling, and enjoys encouraging and teaching youth and adults the values of healthy living and active lifestyles.
Get a copy of the book Running Is Cheaper Than Therapy: A Journey Back to Wholeness👉🏾here. It is available in hardback, paperback, and newly released audio form
