Welcome back or welcome to the humans of triathlon or hot podcast where we bring you the ordinary but extraordinary world of triathlon one human one story at a time with the aim to inspire and to celebrate this life-changing Sport and it's humans to real authentic raw and enjoyable conversations with humans of triathlon from around the globe and from all walks of life.So welcome on this beautiful July day to the humans of triathlon podcast brought to you by three-time Iron Man from London. UK Charles hunk and me soon to be three times Iron Man. I hope she lets her 11 from Grimsby Ontario. Canada are fearless podcast Creator swap meals is on a bit of a sabbatical but we hope to have his smooth voice back on the air and the new future. We have a great show for you today with a fellow Canadian coach and athleteCharles take it away. All right, so guys. So according to the famous publication of the Mayo Clinic, you know around the 15 percent of couples and you'll have trouble getting pregnant, right which is not a small number actually and our guest tonight has had a pass a very lengthy and highly upset in trouble in this regard and however for much painful that this must have been the past this has definitely not Not stopped her from being awesome, right? You can notice this by looking at her Instagram account. Where's many people including myself. We love to take pictures of food. I'm going to have this for lunch or Landscapes. Look at where I'm going to have this wrong tonight amazing, right? I think 95% of our guests in second pulses are smiling selfies, right? So it's power right there. So, who is this woman? Okay. So what are we doing in right? Let's see this V here. We have a Competitive Edge grouper with a 15 years running experience 10 years trying out on experience and over five years of coaching experience. She is a Naas FP certified run coach. She is a nccp train travel on coach and it can fit Pro certified personal. No training specialist. Let me catch my breath that long one. All right, she is also the managing director of PK performance coaching folks. We have a great hour coming up for all of you from Canada. And I love to say this the land of maple syrup of Alanis Morissette of Justin beaver of Justin Trudeau. They already sold out Comeback Kid of Iron Man. Huntington and of course our very own Sheila 311, please Welcome to our virtual Studio the lovely Federer Kennedy. Thank you for having me. That was a great intro. Thank you for calling. I'm here. Thanks. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's just we always have these amazing guests with all the way. We love to hear the stories and we love to be here. Dig there and sometimes we lose track of time and yeah happens a lot of happens. Exactly because not only the guess ramble. We also rambled, you know own way. So he just gets crazy. We all get excited and then Interruption you're like, yeah. Well when you put three track leads into a room and you talk Triathlon that could go on for a really long time. Yeah and good and sometimes it goes on after we stop recording. Yeah, there's a backstage or no one hears for the I it happens. Yeah, well, we're so happy that you're here and usually how we get started is just asking you to tell us about yourself and how you grew up and how you what just about you and how you grew up and where you started. Well, let's start at the beginning. I was born and raised in Toronto. So I've lived here all my life. I've never left I am. I'm the oldest of three kids have a younger sister and a younger brother. There is a pretty big age range between all of us and I like to say it was because I was a bit of a handful as a child throwing temper tantrums in the grocery store and that sort of thing but it's funny that you commented Charles on my smiling face because my mom always said that I was a smiley baby. I was a smiley child and I've always been a smiling person and that's what people comment on the I don't know why that is I guess I just love life and I like to smile simple as that perfect. That's the best kind of so much nicer that to see someone talk to somebody who's smiling then, you know going up to someone who's frowning. Most people will just walk the other way. It's true. Yeah, and I did have someone tell me in one of my jobs out of University that I had a very approachable face like, oh wow. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. It's very odd to compliment but I'll take it ugly definitely better than the alternative. So, yeah, so how big is the age difference between you and your siblings been there six years between my brother and I he's in the middle and then my sister is 11 years younger than me. Okay, so it's sad like growing up we didn't really grow up together. So it was almost like I was a second mom. I guess you could say and once she Ought to be in her late teens, actually, let's just say this once she was able to drink then it was like, okay, she's cool. Let's go out. Yeah, you know what? I totally get it. My sister is 10 years older than my than me and my older brother is 11 years older, but then we also have a younger brother who's five years younger than me. So wow, we didn't really start hanging out until we were like grown-ups. So yeah, so it's true because it's you know kids teenagers. Rogers, you know in my early 20s and my sister would have been like 11. Yeah. I'm not going to hang out with an 11 year old cycling. So but now we're pretty close. So how was your childhood? Like you're you know, you're the oldest you're looking after your two younger siblings a lot or you know where you involved in sports as a kid. I played in grade school. I did track and field for grade 7 and grade 8 and then once I got into High School I started playing soccer and that was my life for like four years. I played on the high school team and then I played on a house league team and then the housing team ended up turning into a rep team. So I did that for all of high school. So I was playing like four days a week and then I play tournaments on the weekend and then I got out of high school and went into University. I stopped doing everything. Oh, no. How come I just moved out of the house. So I was living out by the unit. I went to York. So I was living up by York and and I had a I got a government job over the course of the summer and it was a contract job and then they ended up with the way my school schedule was I had like two and a half days of school. They were long days. The two days were quite long. So I had two and a half three days. So the contract position said well, we'll keep you if you can make this work and I was Yeah, sure. You're paying me good money. I'm not going to say no to that so between work and then school I just felt like I didn't have time for anything else. So I didn't do anything else. And then again the Freshman 15 now of course, yes. Yeah the standard so standard. Yeah, which stayed on me right through University and then just Got a little bit worse after University, which is why I got into running after I got at a university and I had been I was living with a boyfriend at the time and then we broke up and that's sort of when my running sort of really came to be running not just like a quick jog around the block. It was like, okay. I can actually run for half an hour at a time. Now, I sort of worked up from the run walk and then Built up to like 30 minutes straight of running and that was what sort of kept me going. That was the thing that I had since I had left that relationship. That's what sort of took its place and it'll just allowed me to sort of think through things and it allowed me alone time. And then I just thought you know, what if I'm running half an hour, why can't I run 5k, maybe I can run 5k, I'm going to try and do a 5K race. So I think October of that year, I did Run for the Cure because my grandmother both my grandmother's had passed away from breast cancer. So it was like, okay, you know what I'm going to do that and my aunt had had it and beat it. So I thought I'm going to honor them and that's what I did and then that was the rest was history after that. I was like hooked. Mmm. I'm like, oh my God every chance I could race I would race I had no idea what I was doing. Like this was in the late 90s. So I mean heart rate monitors were He just sort of coming into being used but I didn't know anything about that. I would just run didn't know anything about training. I would run five days a week and take the weekends off. So that's where all of my endurance love started. I guess was in 1998. You'll be surprised in in this podcast higher than the number of times that we hear people sort of saying that the reason they got into Into endurance sports or a is for whatsoever is there's always a trigger nice not just one daily. Wake up and say I want to do this now. It's always a nice always like something very like impressive like no no and it ranges from you broke up with your partner to I need this breathing device and I'm traveling a lot. So I'm getting stopped in airports all the time and I'm fed up with this. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so it's all right. Fell from a lightning Tower which is like 20 meters high and I was probably take and then I started doing parasite in so it is amazing that the amount of stories that we hear but it's always a trigger noise is very interesting. There. It is. It's like a switch that gets flipped in you're just like, you know what I need I need to do this I need to do this. This is what I need right now, and I'm lucky it's something that I stuck with it just it. Did so much for me that I was just like this is now part of my life. It's just what I do. There's no reason not to do it. I love it. It makes me feel good and then you know as a runner once you start to develop as a runner, it's like, okay what I've done five k now I'm going to do a cake that I'm going to do 10K that I'm going to do a half marathon. Oh, maybe I'll do a marathon, but that just seems really hard. So it took me like four half marathons before I decided. Okay. I think I'm ready to do a marathon and I signed up to do that Marathon. I joined the Running Room because you know I needed I thought I need guidance. I can't do this on my own and I had done the half marathon Clinic Through The Running Room. So I was familiar with them already and I joined that group and my husband my future husband was in that group and that's how we met was running and at the time when I met him I was like, oh, yeah. You're very cute. But you're a bit of a jerk. Like he just wouldn't talk to me which made the time of day and I'm like, all right. Well fine a year later. He started giving me the time of day it took a year. But yeah, so that's you know, that's how we met and I've met so many amazing people through running and Triathlon that I can't imagine it not being a part of my life and obviously It led me to coaching. So that's a whole other ball of wax that it can worms. Whatever you want to call it that it open. Yeah, I don't come from a you know, Kinesiology or Science Background. I studied Fine Arts and University. Like I'm I was an artist at heart when I started and then something changed and I ended up in advertising which I think most people that get into art realize that they can't make a living at all. Art and up in advertising I did that for 20 years and at 45. I was like, you know, I'm done with this. I'm so done with this and I just quit I quit and decided to coach. So here I am. Yeah, that's amazing. That's a big big change. Like was there a lead up to that decision? Because it has yeah. There was a lot of urging from my husband because I hated my job. You know the last the advertising industry changed when digital photography started and then when social media really became prevalent and things like Instagram ads became prevalent. It was like people thought oh we can do this for nothing. It's like no you can't because you still have to pay the people that do that. Yes, so I started just getting really annoyed with having to tell my suppliers. Well, you know, Can you work for half your rate? Like you don't go into a hairdresser and say I got 50 bucks. I know you charge 200 when you cut my hair. No just cut - I don't ya just we'll just cut half of it and I hope you're okay with that. Like I don't understand I never understood why in that business it was okay to do that. So that was really sort of the straw that broke the camel's back and I'd say that in a in 2013. I started taking people I Was coaching people part time because people started asking me do you coach and I was like I could try and so I started working with some of my friends and then I'm like, you know, I should really get a certification. So that's where the Naas FP certification came in and then I started actually coaching people online. Yeah, it was crazy and my first client came through Instagram really? Oh wow. Because I was so I had a Blog and I used to blog about my training and racing all the time. And then I Chronicle things on Instagram as well. And I people would ask me questions there and I didn't realize it was a program platform that you could connect with people in that regard. So yeah a crazy. I never thought that I would end up where I am because of social media, but I did. So it's amazing. There you go. Yeah, but did you quit your job before starting the coaching or do you like get started coaching while we'll see how you do your job and see whether you you have the final guts to take the final punch. I started coaching while I was at my job and I would take five athletes and that was it and I'd have to turn people away and I was just like, okay, you know, I need to either I need to make a Vision and I knew that if I left my job, obviously that was going to be a big pay cut. So in 20 it was yeah and that's kind of scary. I mean we don't have kids. So for us it was like, okay. Well, you know, my husband has a good job, but he was like you'll be we'll be fine. We'll be fine. We'll be fine. But I also wanted to be contributing right I wanted to contribute to the household. I don't want to like quote unquote free load. So it was like a very tough. Tough decision for me, but then we had a like a three-bedroom house down in Lake Shore and isn't an area. So south west of the city right by the lake and it's just the two of us. Like, why do we need a house with a backyard backyard that we never really use because most of the time we're out training. So at the height of the real estate market we decided to sell okay for you. And yeah, it was smart decision. We had renovated the house. Well, actually they renovated we rebuilt the house five years prior. So it was really bright quite new in a neighborhood where there was a fair some new homes, but a lot of older homes. Hmm, so we sold it we made some money and then we wanted to downsize into a townhouse which we ended up doing. I wouldn't say we downsized in square footage, but now we don't have a backyard. We have a garage we don't have to shovel the driveway. Driveway, we don't have to do any of that stuff. Oh my God, it's liberating force. It was that decision when we did that I was like, okay, we're good. I could quit my job and like I think literally about three weeks after we did that we have our house sold. I went into the studio owner and I was like, okay I'm giving you my notice. I've done. Yeah, and I was good because I knew that I was leaving to do my own thing. So I gave them like three months and I just, you know help train the new person made sure everything was like tied up all the Loose Ends were tied up. And yeah, so I wasn't an idiot about it. I was just like I'm going to give you my time. Yeah, we're going to and I get that it also gave you time to sort of sort out. Make sure that your base your new new world is going to be easy. Yeah, right. Yeah, like I put that out there soon as I had done the deed. It was like, okay guys. I'm taking on new athletes starting January 1st. And by the end of 2016 2017 was my first year of running my own business by the end of that year. I had a full roster of athletes. So how many is a full roster for you? I like to keep it at 15. And that's a combination of Runners and triathletes because I coach both, you know, if I have less triathletes. I might take a little bit more than 15 because Runners I find it much easier to manage programming for the absolute transplant, right? So, you know, I might go up to 17 18, but then that's even that it's like, okay. Nope. Stop stop stop. So and I've had I've recently I now am the head coach at black toe running which is a Running Shop down at Queen and queen and also our King in Bathurst and they have a run Club in a race team. So I program plan for the team and Club year so and coach in person to which was a big sort of step out of my comfort zone. You know, I found that I was always nervous in front of big groups of people and now it's just sort of like this. Yeah, whatever like public speaking was never a good thing for me. Me I would always get really nervous at doing speeches. But now I'm like, I'm very comfortable talking in front of larger groups. So it's been a good thing. That's good. I've seen the Black Toe running group out there. Hmm. Yeah, but her gear things like that. So that's really cool. Yeah, it's been fun. So I know your Runner. So how did you get into the sport of triathlon? I blame that entirely on my husband. When we started dating he was training for his first Ironman Lake Placid, which was in 2002. I think he was doing that year. So I just remember and I knew what Triathlon was. Obviously I had watched I'd watched Kona and thought that was crazy. And then I think everybody in Canada watch Simon Whitfield get the gold medal at the Olympics. I remember screaming at the TV. TV and jumping up and down like losing my mind. So Triathlon was always kind of there was like, well, you know, maybe one day I'll do that and then when I met my husband watching him train for Lake Placid, I was just like this is crazy. But so inspiring and I will never forget standing at the Finish Line at the Olympic Oval in the stands watching random strangers come down the finishing shoot and I'm crying watching these people. Because I'm just like wrapped up and in how excited and happy and emotional they are and I think that an Ironman especially does that like you really you feel that you feel the energy and being an endurance athlete myself. I totally understand what Crossing that Finish Line means so that after I watch that I was like I'm doing this one day. I wasn't going to jump right into an Ironman because I'm not that kind of person I am I'm a little more Progressive. It's like well, let's start with I started with the Muskoka long course, which I guess for most people would be a little aggressive now. That's a big jump in it was a big jump in but I think everybody I knew was training for Ironman and I had just run Boston. So I'd run a marathon and I thought well 15K off the bike. That's no problem. And I've already riding 55 kilometers is it was the 2K swim that I was kind of like. All right. I got to work on that. So he's sounding wait we delete big. Now 70.3 premature. Yeah. Yeah, it was like sort of that middle ground and it I mean, it's still a tough distance to race. Yeah, but you know, I was like I remember doing it and I'm like this was amazing. It was hard, but I crossed the Finish Line thinking. Wow. Okay amazing. And then I did a half Ironman. I think that was 2004 and then the following year. I did an Pick a half Ironman and I think a couple of Sprint distances and then I had decided 2006. I was going to do my first Iron Man and I went to Lake Placid to do it and I did it with my husband and he gave me my medal at the finish line and that was all yeah, seriously the probably the second best day of my life other than our wedding day. Like I have clear memories of my family was there his family was there. Running into the Olympic Oval. I'm going to I might even cry just thinking about it again. My mom and my sister were standing right there as I came in and I just remember seeing them and as I came in they were playing the verbs Bittersweet Symphony and I was just like don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. Oh my God, I'm balling balling balling and then I see this kid with his hand sticking out like he wants a high five and I was like, oh, yeah, I'm totally gonna high-five you so I high-fived him and that was kind of like the switch to turn the tears off as they came around the Olympic Oval, so I wasn't totally balling when I cross the finish line. Line, but and then I gotta cross the finish line and my husband was there and I was just like, oh my God, it was so hard. But so awesome. Yeah, it's tradition for me to cry at Finish Lines. If I don't cry the Finish Line then something's wrong. Okay. I just when I think I've gotten a little bit better with holding the emotions in check once I cross the finish line, but there are some races where you know, you get across the line and it was just so hard you have to like You have to let it out. Yeah, you're just so happy that you're done. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, totally get that. So that's that's awesome to how many Iron Man. Have you done since then? I've only done two. Okay, I did and it's funny how a negative experience can really affect how you feel about something after it happens. So I'd say that the to Iron Man's I've done were complete Polar Opposites like classic was like the Day, and then we went in 2008. We went to Europe and we did our man Switzerland. Wow. Yeah, that trip was amazing. There was nine of us that went and we had a great time. It was my first time ever in Europe. So I was just like everything's new and exciting the course would beautiful, but I had the worst possible day. I was 14 degrees and raining. Oh the more yeah got my period race day. Thanks Mother Nature. I was cramping miserable emotional and I made the mistake of taking half and naproxen Before the Race started and this is before I knew of any of that, you know that it can affect your stomach your stomach. So on the buzz, I'm trying I'm eating and nothing is sitting well and I'm like getting nauseous and I was completely miserable. I remember at one point on the second Loop of the bike just cry. And I was like, I hate every second of this. I hate it and then I finally got off the bike. I got it on the run and it stopped raining and the Run was for Loops. So you were like constantly passing people you'd see people which was great. But that first Loop of the run. I think I went into every single Porta-Potty because I did not know what my body wanted to do either it was going to come out the top or the bottom. I was like, this is really bad. This is horrible yikes. It was really Really unpleasant and I think by the time I got to like a third loop I was just like I'm so done. I just want this to be over and then I saw my body my best friend. She was bracing. She's like, come on. PK just go just keep going so saw her and an okay guy one loose. Let one Loop left. I can hear the crowd and then they had this great DJ playing on the course and they left I gotta love that about Europe like they get right into it. The DJ is playing they had Red Bowl out. I was like, okay, I'm a little sip of Red Bull had some Coca-Cola support. Okay, I'm going to do this in as soon as I cross the finish line. All my friends were waiting there for me. My husband and my friends everyone finished before me and I was just like, oh my God, that was horrible. And that was it. So as like since then I have not done another Iron Man because that experience that negative experience has stuck with me. Oh, wow. Yeah, but when I turn 50 Which is only a few years from now on I plan on doing another Iron Man. I'm going to I'm going to put that at open up the closet rummage through all those skeletons and just put them to bed. Nice. Yeah. Yeah, and I want to go. So, how do we do it? Oh, okay. Yeah, that's good. How old are you now? Sorry your for I am 48 88. Okay. All right, because I know where if well next year I'll be in the same age group as you will be in the because I'll be back. Yeah, I was just look because I was looking it doesn't tell you your you doesn't really tell you your age right you just get your age range on sweat stats. Yeah, but if you can do the math if you scroll back enough and see when the that's true age which then you know, okay, this person was born in X here. Yeah, I didn't do the math. I just was looking good laughing so last more recent. Yeah. That's some of your front splits or pretty good. So yeah, I got I had to I think my best like I started running at 27 and I didn't have my best year of running until I was 42. That's a long time. Hey, that's okay, but I think there was obviously the time in there when we were trying to have kids. It was about two years where I just didn't race. I didn't do much in the way. Anything because you know, I was constantly at the doctor and it was like, okay, you got to go to the clinic today. They got to draw blood. You got to get laundered this that the other thing put on some weight. I'm like stop running. It's like, okay well, so there was two years of not a heck of a lot of anything and then once all that was over it was like okay time to reclaim my body. I started watching when I was eating and then I started lifting weights and I think the strength training really helped me. Me and then I trained with I finally found a group to run with and run with people that were faster than me that helped me immensely and that's when I started having really good race results was doing that. So 42 I set all my TV's every distance except five cakes. I didn't race a 5k, but that was the year. I set my nerves on PB half marathon PV and 10K people. Yeah, exactly like Drop. Thank you very much. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, you know what? There's a lot. We're I think as women, you know, especially for running we do get better as we get older to a certain point, you know, we have stronger or endurance is good. And yeah now I'm just trying to slow the decline so I know yeah hang it onto that just take it off. I'll be 45 next week. So Have you heard me? I said I totally totally get the trying to keep the decline from from happiness. Yeah. Yeah so far so good. That's right. So he talks just briefly there about how you know, you took a little bit of time off put on some weight. You guys were trying to have a baby. I was just wondering if maybe you could share your story about that because I know there's lots of women out there that that's true. With you know, getting pregnant and things like that. I would really probably love to share hear your story and how you you know major way through that and out of it again. It was a very dark time like I got married at 33 so, you know young but not that young and you know, I we didn't want to have kids right away in hindsight. That was probably maybe not the best. Best thing but it worked out for us. So I think it was it was after Iron Man when I decided to start trying and you know trying and you're trying and you're trying and you kind of know, okay. Well is this normal? It's been a year. And after that we were like, okay. Well, let's just do another Iron Man will continue to try and get pregnant great, but I had a feeling that something was wrong because I had like incredibly painful period Eggs, sometimes abnormally heavy and I had cysts before so it was like, okay something's not right and I just had you know that feeling in your gut when you just know that something's wrong. So I after ordering Ironman training I had said to my doctor, you know, I think that something's up and I had been Googling my symptoms. Good old Google and I thought you know, I think I might have endometriosis and the only way to check that is laparoscopic surgery. You can't pick it up on an ultrasound or anything like that because it's Scar Tissue. So we had made arrangements for me to have laparoscopic surgery after I came back from Iron Man Switzerland. So literally the think like two weeks later. I was back in Toronto and I'm getting ready to go into surgery and You know I go in and afterwards I'm in recovery and I guess they dosed me pretty hard within a seizure because I was out of it for a long time. And when I do my husband was sitting with me and then the doctor came in and you know sort of told me well, you know, this is what we found you have stage 4 in Dmitri osis. Both of your fallopian tubes are blocked. It'll be impossible for you to have kids. Naturally, I think. I like once he left the room. I just cried and cried and cried and my husband has held my hand. Like what can he say to comfort me? Nothing, right? Yeah, you just felt horrible and it was like, okay well, so we have to do IVF. And that was what we did and my doctor had recommended because my Fallopian tubes were completely blocked with scar tissue. He was like I recommend that you get the remote. Because there's toxins in them that could harm an embryo so that meant a second laparoscopic procedure. So I was just like oh God, so, you know, I went through the healing process of the first one we did went through the whole like hormones all of that stuff. Went through the second laparoscopic procedure and then started to IVF. And that was I think we went through three rounds of it spent a small fortune. I think back now. It's like I could have a really nice bike for what we did but whatever it's part of the journey, so that was about yeah, it was two years from start to finish and it was you know, I talked Like I have no problem talking about those things and my co-workers were respectful of things, but would ask questions and it was like, okay. Well, you know what? I just got to get this off my chest so I would talk about it and it seems to be a bit of a taboo subject still and I don't understand why because there's so many women that have his problem. Yes, whether it be a Demetrios has or unexplained infertility. It shouldn't be taboo because it really we can make you feel like I felt like a failure as a woman for the longest time after and I don't think I really realized that I felt like a failure until I started thinking about it and it's like, you know, I pushed myself and Sport because my body didn't allow me to do that. So I was going to take control of my body and do for excel in sport and try and do think good at something be successful at something. So, I think that that Journey really are staying too. Work hard and Triathlon and running and be good at something and thank God that I actually was kind of good at something because it was a real outlet for me and it really sort of helped me work through all of those feelings. I still ended up going to see a therapist because I think there was a lot of really deep seeded stuff that I had to work through and it was in those therapy sessions that I think the feeling of failure as a Man came out. I remember talking to my therapist about that and she kept asking me well, how do you feel about all of this? And then it was just like the light bulb went on. I'm like, I feel like a failure as a woman because my body didn't allow me to do what you know, biologically I'm here to do was bring life into the world and I couldn't do it. So it was a tough pill to swallow. Hmm. Yeah and how long did it take from the moment that you started trying having kids until the moment that you say You know what? That's it. Oh god. So let's see. We started trying to have kids in like 2007 and then it was to 2010. So three years three years of an emotional roller coaster. And yes, like that's it. I need to step off this this ride and go on another one because I'm done. Yeah, it was tough. But I think that if I if that hadn't happened I wouldn't be I am now like I certainly wouldn't be coaching people. I might not have had the athletic success that I've had. Who knows what I would be doing. I could probably still be working in advertising miserable and cranky. So this was a good thing exactly. So one of the things that you wrote in your ear blurb to us was that, you know getting back into it getting into the sport back into the sport of triathlon helped you. Focus and shift your focus from what your body couldn't do to what it can do. So, how how did that shift happen for you? That's a good question. I'd say that it was it was gradual because Fitness is gradual gating Fitness is gradual. It doesn't happen overnight, but then when I started to see that progress It was like, oh, you know what I can do this. My body can do this. I can go faster. I am stronger. I'm lifting heavier things now I can carry that giant box of whatever up the stairs because I'm lifting weights and I'm stronger now and I think mentally there was a shift to because previously as my husband says, I would mentally wuss out, you know, when they when it got hard I would back off. I was always afraid of sort of blowing. Up. I never knew what that extra gear was. And I think you know having to deal with all of that fertility and fertility stuff and then wanting to find more and be better and do more I was able to find that extra gear. There was something inside that just said no just suck it up and do it like you've been through misery. This is a different kind of pain and misery you can get through this and that mental shift was everything I now I knew how to suffer all of a sudden it was amazing. Well not that suffering is amazing. But you know, it's like that that you find that extra gear and sometimes that's what's missing from a good race. Right is the ability to suffer exactly and sometimes we even lose we might have had that at one time and then we lose it. Yep. And you know, I think that's where I am. So it's learning to get that back again. Yep. So it's thank you for sharing that. So now you're on your you're your journey through coaching and them, you know, you said you really love it love the coaching. Yeah, and the other one of the other things that I took from your blurb is to it's like you really now after all of this understand the true meaning of sportsmanship and community. So I think as a coach I'm surmising because you're not my coach, but I imagine you bring that all those learnings that you have to your teammates. And how do you build that sportsmanship and Community within your Club? Well with my athletes it's funny. You know, we're all members of the Toronto traffic. Okay, there is I used to coach through that last year and that's still a member this year and there are a bunch of people that don't know each other. But like I had a bunch of people that signed up for the same race that didn't know each other previously and I remember when one of my athletes signed up I'm like oh so and so one of my other athletes has also signed up. I think you guys would get along great. And so I do I like to do socials with everybody. Why so I get everyone together, you know, usually twice a year. We do a summer and then a winter social and it gets all that you don't live in this city that may not know each other the opportunity to meet each other and potentially find another training partner and there has been an amazing relationship that has blossomed between several of the athletes the women that I coach that is just great to see now. They're planning Iron Man together. They're going to do the moist next year. Life is I love I absolutely love it. It makes me so happy to see that. So that's like a for me the best thing part of my job one of the best parts of my job. Anyway, yeah, it is. It's in it. I find an amazing Community as well and those relationships between women and and guys to sorry not to leave you out Charles become, you know, it's such a sport that brings people together and I think a lot of it comes from that. That those triggers that were all brought in by some trigger. We all have some experiences and they may not be the same but they're similar undertones to them that that allow us to connect and I know like this weekend. I'm we're going to Lake Placid this weekend to watch one of my running Partners. Do you like Placid amazed and we're taking a girls road trip, so The three of us are popping it up. We run to the band. We're gonna kinda to Lake Placid and we're going to go watch Marcel finish how Lake Placid that's his goal that he'll be he'll do it fast it right now. Yeah, thanks. He just wants to finish so it's going to be so much fun, but it's that sense of community in those that friendship and and knowing you have, you know, people with similar struggles and and Goals, and I find that that help keep that make this sport. So great and keep me coming back for sure. Absolutely. It's nice to hear that you're you know, there's somebody else out there to that's like promoting how awesome it is just a community and I have a question for you Phaedra. You are coach see you said you started doing travel and then suddenly almost at the same time sort of you start coaching. So I just so obviously I just do a parallel. Cause and he said question in general now for in terms of being able to teach something when you're good at it if it's something that anyone who's good at something can teach something or if there's something else that you need to have in order to be able to teach it properly if you know what I mean? Yes, I think you need to have a certain level of interpersonal skills and you need to be able to relate to people and and what they're going through and I think is a coach to ask for me is my biggest strength, you know, there are other coaches out there that are very data-driven data focused. I am that but I'd say that that is lower on my skill level. You know, I sometimes think that I should have had a degree in Psychology as well because sometimes you need that right like you need that to figure out what is going on in this person's head. You know dealing with the mental side of the sport, I think it's something that is actually probably my favorite part of it is getting into the athletes had it's like, okay. Well, what's your motivation? Why do you do this sort of what makes you tick and helping encouraging people to focus on those things and build that mental side of it. So around about answer to your question. I started actually Triathlon a 2004 but I didn't start coaching Triathlon till much later. So I've have experienced a little more experience and I think in 2004, there's no way in heck I would have even thought of coaching someone in Triathlon. So I think my experience sort of helps plus just learning along the way right like I spend a lot of time reading I talk to other coaches. There's a lot of books. Up, like this is important. This is important. This is wearing website like I'm always right. Latest things in the sport to So I myself balance that way. Yeah. I think my question was not yeah, maybe I maybe I did the question wrong. I didn't want to sort of just compare the fact that you may have started coaching very close to the time when you started doing the sport. It was more about just understanding from your point of view know. What was the that extra thing that you would require to be able to to be a good coach because in not only for traveling buddy anything You may be very good at something but but you don't have that sort of capacity to transmit to teach. Yeah someone else right? And then I see these in the workplace all the time like these trainers to do this and the guys like yeah, whatever so it's like yeah, there's a special sauce. Yeah, just because it's something yourself doesn't mean that you can teach it right? Yeah. Hmm. That is an interesting. A question. I think I think you need an extra an extra bit of patience. Yes. I think what makes one of the things that makes a good teacher is that little bit extra patients? Yes patience and you need to be able to listen like you really need to be able to listen and understand where the person is coming from that to me is a big thing. So yeah, and then, you know being able to explain yourself and what you want from the athlete is also key like you could tell someone. Okay. Well, this is the workout if you don't explain it well and what the goal is then they may not do it correctly. So you have to be able to explain what you want and why they're doing what they're doing. Right? Exactly. Yeah, and I think I often and also he's very He's even more important not because in other things of life you teach something and that's it. But internet on usually you you develop this long-term relationship now with your coach and something that is like going through seasons and seasons of learning and right. So it's just that much more. Yeah. It is a relationship that develops it really is and I always encourage the athletes I coach to Kate with me like I think communication is it's integral to any relationship but especially a coaching relationship because if you fill out your training Peaks or if you just upload your workout to trading Peaks and there's no comments there. It's like well what what happened? I can look at the data and say okay. Well, this is a great workout. But then you can say to me. No, it was awful. Well, why was it awful? So there's more to it like you have to sort of Peel back the layers right? Like the communication is the most important thing and I think if you can't communicate well, then that's a problem. Yeah completely agree, right? So in the future the future Phaedra, so you've already told us that you're going to your you have already your plans to get out of the closet when you're 50 and do a third Iron Man. Yep, and put this thing behind you. Yep. So what other plans do you have at least in your Perhaps when Warlow anything you want to tell us. Well Charles. I'm glad you asked I last night. I just signed up for the Scotiabank half marathon, which is you know, the big Toronto race in the fall and my yeah, I love that race. I've run it so many times but I haven't run it since 2015. So it's time it's time to go back time to go back and I'm going to try and qualify for the New York Marathon because You can get into New York on a half time which I managed to do that in 2011. So went to New York in 2012. Guess what happened in 2012 hurricane Sandy, so I never will. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so I need to go back. So that is the goal for this year. I'm doing this 70.3 World Championships in nice. Nice. Yeah, super excited about that. I qualified last year at Muskoka and I'm amazed that actually that actually even happened given how bad my race was but congrats. Thank you. Can you be lucky I can't even tell you how lucky I got. So I thank the triathlon Gods every day for that. But yeah, that's that's my next race. And then when I come back from there Scotiabank is in October the end of October. And then next year. I'm just going to race short course. Okay, I've been doing a lot of long course stuff for the last several years and I'm like, you know, I missed the Sprint racing because I did that for like, I think 2012 2013 2014 2015. I did a lot of sprint races. I did a lot of the multi sport Canada races. So I'm like, you know what I'm gonna go back and I'm going to do some of those and just have fun like not to say that Long distance racing isn't fun. But I do love being able to just ride my bike, you know casually ride my bike and not have to go ride 90k for a hundred K or whatever. It's like I just want to go do 40 today. So I'm going to go do 40 today, you know, because I have all that Fitness from all the years of training. I can do that and still racist Sprint relatively well, so that's my plan for next year and then hopefully I get into New York and that'll be the Fall Marathon for next year and then the following year will be Iron Man year nice and that's as far as I planned. No, I think is very very very obviously for looking and I thought I was a bit. How do you say myself a bit obsessed in the sense that I already enrolled in my to a racist for next year, right? So I was just wondering whether I'm just alone in this world and to obsessed or you know, like you're not Not yeah. Okay. Thank you. I have to start enrolling and races for next year too because I'll be age group 1 and can't just I keep forgetting you can't just sign up. Yeah like a month before so I got to start thinking about to see you guys are inspired. Yeah, I do that make your list and then I'll check it. Make sure I'm not going to be there. I don't want to raise it. I have a question in regards to his like the New York qualifying time. What do you have to run at Scotia? I need to get it. Okay, which a few weeks ago. So I think I think you're good. It's a good. Yeah, and you were like holding 426 at Walden last year. So I think you're off the bike. So I think you're probably pretty good. Yeah, that was a good run for me off the bike that was Poor technique lot like yeah. Yeah. That was good. Yeah, I got I got pulled down by Tamara Jewett all my food doesn't get pulled down by her. Seriously. I can't wait till she's all better. So this Tamara juat. She's like an amazing Runner like she holds 325 in her Half Marathon at the end of a 70.3 like she's super fast, but I can't wait to see her get it on the pro circuit and just like after her show. Oh, they just better ways girl. She will be I'm pretty sure she's got she's on the the development team this year Renteria good because I heard that's one point. Someone had said. Oh, yeah, she's in has no interest in Racing Pro. I was like a she'd say like nah, I saw her she's on the development team less. So she's got to have some plan in mind. Yeah. Okay good. Yeah. She doesn't have to swim or bike. She just run at the end like, all right, everyone. Yeah, unbelievable. All right. So I am using the authority given to me by our Supreme Leader's from Neil and we need to start wrapping this up for my goodness in an hour already holds exactly. Exactly. So he has given us his power to surprise people and tell them that at this point. They have to go through for unavoidable question God that with make everyone. Yeah, and this no one says this yeah somewhere stop with the first one. This one I think is very simple. It's a bit symbolic. But you know, you can just make it whatever you want. Okay, right. So number one. No, we don't know is what message would you want people listening to this? Take away from your sword? Oh, Yeah, always listen to your gut for sure. And trusting your ability to be able to do hard things. That's two things. That's awesome. I think that I think that's a good thing to say because we don't we always often doubt ourselves and our ability, right? So, yeah, we do need to trust that heard your second question super tough. He might need another shot. Okay. I'm just kidding. Are there any people and or brands that you would like to give a shout out while you're on the podcast today? Oh, Running free is a store in Markham and they have a store I think in Orangeville. It's a small chain of stores. They were I was that was the first team. I was a part of and it was such a great experience and it really sort of helped me understand the like would paint being on a team is like and it really made. Triathlon racing that much more fun and be very careful running prefix free kids. They go running for any that just really against Community. Maybe we're great and I have to say though because they took me on as a head coach in November and working with Mike and Nia has been just phenomenal. They are great people and they they've built a fabulous Community through their store. So I would be remiss to not give them a shout out. All right, no better Trace number three my lucky number you're looking over. There you go. And that's the number of your ironmen number in couple of years. I could Point. Yeah before Shayla. Ask the last question. Could you please tell everyone here listening? Where can we find you online? Oh, geez, Instagram PK performance coaching. Although that handle may change, but right now it's PK performance coaching online. Same thing. PK performance coaching Facebook page same thing PK performance coaching and I don't care that much anymore. I just yeah hundred forty characters is not enough for me. I know. So that's where you can find me cool. So our final question. Why do you try? Oh, well, why not? What makes me happy? It makes me feel strong. It's something I love and it's something I don't suck at so that's always a way and the community obviously again, it keeps coming back to the community it really Send the people that I meet. So yeah, awesome. Hey, are you going to be out at iron girl at all? And a couple weeks? No, I'm not. Okay, but I do have a few of my athletes erasing so you may see the bright red T KP C kit. It's very it's bright red with like bright neon yellow on the arm and a leg nice. I will look out for them. I'm sure yes, I will not be there but they will be there. I'm still training for nice. So I have to my weekends are oh like rides and Long Run ya know it's it's literally down the street from my house. Oh perfect. So I was supposed to do it with my daughter, but she's about out because she said she didn't have time to ride the bike so which is okay because she's busy to send second you're going in a second. Diversity and she's working a lot. So I totally get it and you know, she's just got she just did one race. I try last year just kind of got used to clipping and other pedals. So I guess I totally get it but I'm going to do it the week before trombe long. So I figured I don't need to do a long ride that we can know. Okay over 20k of the bike. Yeah, it'll be it just and it's flat. So it's totally flat. I did that race 2013. Teen maybe I can't remember 28 2014. Yeah, I loved it. It was fine. Yeah, and I'm going to give a quick shout-out because Subaru Triathlon series who runs the iron grill Canada here. They were kind enough to allow us to put some humans have Triathlon postcards into all the kit bags for all the women that are going to be there. And so I'm really excited because I'm hoping that there's a lot of women that want to share their Race with humans and Triathlon, so we we can put out everyone's strengths and how they've you know got to where they are today. So that's my throat that would be amazing or women in the sport and get them out and realizing that there are lots of Kick-Ass women that do this for it. Exactly. All right speed. Thank you so much to have you Phaedra really super fun. Yeah. This is our just went by super quickly. No, it's been obviously we have a some sad topics to talk about as well. But I think it's just has been a super Pleasant honestly to do to speak with you today. Definitely an honor to have you you want to share to be able to be the channel then Messenger to transmit the PK coaching story to the world. Thank you, and I'm hoping to see you around. I'll catch you at one of the races and say hi. S vice versa? Yeah, absolutely. All right, and thank you Lisa nurse again for another state until the end of your commute. Listen to this two crazy people three crazy people, but you know, I'll try out every week and like our good old former governor of California used to say hasta la vista, baby. Hello humans. Yes, it is fine for Triple C C Cube Community comments with Charles your guilty pleasure on your commute to work your hot podcast reviews get revealed to the world. And this week's review is from the United Kingdom a five-star review that says excellent podcast for anyone who has an interest in people or in triathlons the case so far have been great and hearing about their backgrounds makes you realize the inner battles that some people Have but you can still compete know so definitely worth a listen if And subscribe to if you want a regular podcast to listen to so, you know guys, keep up the great work. Thank you very much to Kin barch humble. You can find him on Insta. Add a candle bar jumbled on his bio page. He calls himself an LGBT triathlete a sarcastic twat and a professional cake eater. Well after over, Six years later in the UK. I can definitely improve his last comment people do know how to eat a cake around here. I'm anyway. Remember to send us your reviews anything. You want to point out, right? So next week we could share your view your view here. So please find us on Apple podcast and iTunes until next week one human one story at a time. Thanks for listening everyone. Thanks for being a part of this humans of triathlon Community. Hope you're enjoying the show and the other content make sure to join us again next week here on the hot podcast where we'll bring you another amazing guest and story from this artery, but extra Audrey world of triathlon until then everyone keep trying.
This week's Human of Triathlon started her endurance journey with running back in 1998, But when standing along the finishing chute during her husband's first IM at Lake Placid - cheering and crying for all the finishers she saw - Phaedra Kennedy had an incredibly emotional experience & one she knew she wanted to experience herself. 4yrs later, she did her first IM at LP with her husband. She now describes it as the 2nd best day of her life, second only to their wedding day. After racing together for 4yrs, they decided it was time to start a family. They tried for a long time with no luck & were later told that Phaedra had stage 4 endometriosis & would not be able to conceive without medical assistance. She felt like she had failed as a woman & hated her body for what it couldn’t do. But after 2years of riding an emotional roller coaster, she knew she had to hop off - to do so she went back to the community she had left behind and started tri'ing again - allowing her to shift her focus from what she couldn't do to what she can do instead. - PHAEDRA'S SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram | Facebook | Website  - SUBSCRIBE, RATE & REVIEW: this week's Community Comments with Charles (CCC) features Ken Barcham-Bool (@ken.barchambool). To everyone else - if you enjoy the show and haven't left a review yet, it would mean a lot to us if you could leave the podcast a positive review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes. It would help us out a ton! - H.O.T SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram | Facebook | Strava | Website  - HOSTS: Swapneel Chouhan, Sheila Treleaven, & Carlos (Charles) Galan  - INTRO/OUTRO MUSIC: produced by Vasil Zguri at SoundPulse 