39 | Be Plucky Not Perfect // with Carrie Jo Bradley

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If you've been around here for a while,

you probably know that I love running.

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I ran cross country in high

school and I have run semi

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consistently, ever since then.

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So when I first heard about

Carrie Joe Bradley and her podcast

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titled plucky, not perfect.

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I immediately loved, but she's all about.

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She's a health and running coach.

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And in her first episode, She

acknowledges that even if you don't

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think you're a real runner, you still

belong as part of her community.

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And that totally.

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Resonated with me.

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I'm excited to have her join us

today to share about how technology

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has both negatively and positively

impacted her fitness journey.

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Her experiences with low body image

and eating disorders and her journey

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to becoming a coach that helps moms

actually achieve their athletic goals.

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Do you ever find yourself turning to your

phone without even thinking about it?

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Or do you get sucked into

scrolling and regret not using

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that time for something else?

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You are not alone.

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I'm Alex, a screen time mentor for

young moms, and I'm here to help you

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get a grip on your own screen time

so you can be present, intentional,

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and live a more fulfilling life.

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Welcome to the Mindful With Media podcast.

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Nancy: Welcome, Keri.

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I'm so grateful that you would

come be a guest on my show today.

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Will you go ahead and introduce

yourself a little bit to my listeners?

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Well, thanks so much, Alex, for having me.

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I'm excited.

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, sure.

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I go by Coach Keri online.

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I'm Keri Jo Bradley.

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I live in Vancouver with my

husband and two kids and two cats.

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And And

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I host a plucky not perfect podcast.

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, This is so fun because I

don't know you very well.

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So this is fun to get to

know you a little bit more.

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Tell me a little bit about your

background with running, kind

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of your experience with running.

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Yeah.

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I, I grew up in Montana,

a very rural area.

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So I would just run in the fields

for fun when I was a little kid.

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And then my, my friends convinced

me to join the cross country team

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and I've been running ever since.

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So 30 plus years of competitive running.

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I'm dating myself, but so I've been

running a long time and it was only since.

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Yeah.

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I'm moving to Canada from the States

that I decided to get into coaching.

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Okay.

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Cool.

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So tell us a little bit more about

your podcast, what it's called

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and why you chose to name it that.

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Yeah plucky means determined

courage, and I think one of the

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reasons I wanted to start it is

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I think it's easy to look at people

we admire, especially people we don't

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know that we see on social media and

see them at the top of a mountain

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or like at the peak of their career.

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performance and compare and just think

that their lives are perfect and that

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everything is going well and great.

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But it's only when you get to know

their story and the obstacles they

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face and things that they had to

persevere through that you, you realize

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their, their lives are not perfect.

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And therefore, like, that's more

inspiring to me to see somebody who's

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Overcome challenges and then, then just

somebody who has it easy and, and so

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I just wanted to hear the stories of

people who have persevered and what,

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what it took to get to where they are.

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And so that's the plucky part

is just to keep going and

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that none of us are perfect.

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And so, yeah, just to hear people's

stories and, and there's a few solo

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episodes in there too, but I really

just wanted to inspire people to keep

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going, that they don't have to have it

all together before they start, that you

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don't have to be a certain weight or a

certain height or you don't have to be

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fast, you can just start imperfectly.

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I think that's why I resonated so

much when I first started listening

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to your podcast because yeah, you

talk about this, this idea of maybe

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you don't think you're a real runner.

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And when you said that, that's, that's

how I felt like I ran cross country in

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high school and I was really into it then.

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But since then I've just kind

of done things here and there.

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And so at first I was like, I don't

know if I'm even like good enough to

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listen to a podcast like this, but

Which is so ironic because your podcast

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is called Plucky Not Perfect, right?

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And I just think that's such a powerful

truth and lesson and I guess just

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principle for any aspect of life

to, to be plucky and not perfect.

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I think anybody can relate to that,

whether you're a runner or whether you're

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a mom or whether you're a podcaster or a

business owner or anything you're doing.

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I think we can all relate

to that, that principle.

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I think our culture too kind of has this

go big or go home kind of mentality.

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Like it has to be great in order to count

and everybody has to start somewhere.

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Everyone starts small and, and I don't

know if you read the book Atomic Habits.

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We you know, just those, those small

habits are just just getting going

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sometimes is all we need and then, you

know, sometimes we need some encouragement

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to keep going once you get started.

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Yeah, that's the hard part, right?

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It's like, those are the two hardest

parts, starting and then keep going.

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Right.

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When you, you hit that, that hard part.

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Yeah.

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I love that.

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I think that's so powerful.

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So I want to ask you just kind of more

about your experiences with media and

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social media and especially how those

have played a role in your fitness

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journey and your experiences with

running and coaching as well, I guess.

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So I want to start with kind of

asking about your experience with

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Strava and maybe you can first explain

what Strava is to my listeners.

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wEll, I I confess I am no Strava expert.

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It is a tool I use.

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It's a activity tracker.

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I guess, and there's many

different activities that you

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can you can track on there.

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It's kind of, it's a bit of social media.

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And that you, you can follow people

and see what other people are doing.

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There's also a community aspect,

like you can join different

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groups that are on Strava.

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There's group challenges.

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There's like badges for motivation.

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Like There's a 10k in May challenge

and then also it has other aspects,

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like if you want to track the

number of miles on your shoes or

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on a certain, bike or whatever

equipment you have you can do that.

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Oh, that's cool.

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I didn't know that it did that.

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I'm like learning all these features.

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Yeah.

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I've only ever used it with like, I

think I have like a few of my cousins

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and a few friends from high school.

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And like, yeah, when I go running, I've

actually stopped using it for a while, but

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when I used to use it, I would log my run.

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And then I could see my other

cousins or friends, like if

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they ran, but this is cool.

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There's so many other features to it too.

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And I, I first started using it in, in

: 2019

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one of my running friends came to visit

and we went out for a run and she checked

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her Strava and she was using it to see

if she was the fastest person on this

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route and, and I was kind of intrigued,

you could see, All the other people

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that had run on that, that day and and

so she said, Yeah, you should use it.

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It's a good way to meet other runners

because I had just moved here.

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I was kind of lonely and

I didn't have memory.

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Unity.

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And so that's why I initially kind

of logged on and got in into it.

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But like if I found somebody who

had done the similar run, there

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was no way necessarily to connect

with that particular person.

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You know what I'm saying?

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But I did like join some like a marathon

group but still I wasn't finding

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those in person connections that I was

looking for through the app and then,

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and it just became more of a sense

of competition for me, like, Oh, this

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person is doing it faster than me.

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I'm, you know, and then another drawback

was Like trying to run faster than

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I should, like if I have an easy run

on the schedule, like running faster

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so that it looks good for, other

people to see, you know Even though

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it's supposed to be an easy run, it

was becoming, everything was a race.

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Yeah.

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So I stopped using it for a while.

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And then it wasn't until I started

coaching I, that's how I was

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tracking my athletes initially.

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So I would see what they were doing

and, and then I figured, well, they

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want to connect with me , on the

app, so I should be using it as well.

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So, and then also when I, I found a

coach for myself and I was following

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their workouts, that helps me.

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On Strava, just know that if I have

a workout, I'm supposed to do that,

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it says signed by my coach and I'm

supposed to run slow, that helps me

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on Strava would be like, well, it

doesn't matter if I'm running slow

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because I'm supposed to be running.

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So it was like validated by your coach.

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Like, no, this is what

my coach told me to do.

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Yeah, you kind of already touched on this.

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But what changed so that you can

now start using Strava again to

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help it be a positive impact on your

running and your fitness journey?

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Mm hmm.

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Yeah, I think just, well, first of

all, just checking my ego at the door,

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and knowing my why, I run mostly

to connect with myself, connect

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with God, connect with nature.

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And it's not so much about the

performance necessarily like I run

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from many reasons, but a big part

of it is mental and physical health.

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And so.

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impressing people is not why I'm running.

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So just keeping that in mind.

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That's like detrimental to your

mental and physical health, right?

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Like it's the opposite.

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I think that's so powerful to

like check in with yourself.

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I mean, I think that can apply to any

aspect of, well, really any part of life,

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but you know, with whatever media you're

using, what's your why behind this?

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What's your why behind what you do?

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And then keep coming back to

where your worth is coming from.

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Exactly.

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Any other thoughts on that?

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Yeah, I guess just for anyone who

also struggles with comparison.

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I don't think it has to be all or nothing,

either you use Strava or you don't.

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I think just notice your thoughts, like

notice if you're using it as a tool for

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comparison or a tool for Encouragement.

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I guess that's the other thing I noticed

in that shift is if I'm using it as a

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coach, , I'm using it to encourage other

people and to support their efforts.

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And it's not so much about me.

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It's like, I'm, I'm looking at

what they're doing and , how can

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I give, you know, you can give

kudos and it's kind of like a like.

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And so How can I be encouraging

and not just focused on myself?

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Yeah, I love that.

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That's really cool.

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And then also, so I track most of my runs

on there, but I, you can also track any

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sport and I do triathlons, but I don't

track my swims, my strength training.

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So I, I can have a little

bit of more sense of control.

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Like, well, I don't have to

share everything on there and.

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Also, I there's different

levels of privacy.

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So I have my account is private.

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So you have to request to follow me.

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And so another tip for anyone

who struggles with comparing

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is to try a naked run.

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It's called, just using no

technology, you know, go out for a

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run without your watch, without your

phone, and and that can help you.

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Again, just connect with your why.

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Why am I doing this?

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It's not about the numbers.

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It's not about impressing people.

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That is so healthy.

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I know that that's something

that I've kind of had to work

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through, you know, in high school.

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I was a lot faster than I am now.

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And, I've gone through back and forth of

like, Oh, well, like, I don't really care.

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I just run for fun.

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But then it's like, no, I do still

want to be motivated and still, push

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myself even though those times are.

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different than when I was in high school.

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So I love that idea of just like

leaving my things at home and then

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just feeling like, what pushes my

body in a way that feels good instead

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of just, what does my watch say?

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Like how fast am I going?

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What are my.

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miletimes, I think.

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I love that.

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You call it a naked run?

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Mm hmm.

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That's so healthy.

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I don't think there's anything

wrong with being competitive.

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I'm a competitive person.

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I just try and, not have my running be

all about competing with other people,

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you know, like I, I trained for races

and I want to do well and I want to

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have good times and improve my times.

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I think that's but it's just not,

that's not what I'm all about.

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Yes.

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I think that's so healthy to have.

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That's just a piece of it.

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Like competitiveness in itself isn't bad.

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It's just becomes the problem if

that's your soul focus and that's

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the only thing you care about.

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Love that.

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Would you be willing to share a

little bit about your experiences

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with body image and eating disorders?

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Yeah, I was thinking about it this

morning, actually, when I struggled the

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most was actually before social media.

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It was like, and again, I'm feeling

old here, but when I was in high

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school, there was no social media.

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So I think.

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The, just the

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perception that thinner is always better

was really portrayed in the media,

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the traditional media and and culture.

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And so I think for today's girls, we

often point to social media as the

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evil thing that girls, women, and men

also compare their bodies to other

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people on social media actually.

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When I was a teenager and Early adulthood,

I, I would look in magazines and on TV

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and see thin women and that was the ideal.

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And I think since then, I've, I mean,

I've done a lot of healing, but a lot

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of it was just that I felt like I had

to be thin, pretty, perfect, to be, to

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be loved, to be worthy, and so a lot of

the healing just had to do with getting

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that perspective shifted, think it's

more common than any of us realize,

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like, I think, especially in the runner

world, I know that many of my, fellow

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athletes, like the other girls on my

team, struggled with eating disorders.

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And, I definitely had disordered eating,

but it was in the name of healthy.

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It was in the name of running.

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Like, I thought it was good.

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And then thankfully my mom was very aware

and was like, this, this isn't healthy.

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And I think.

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Like you say, you have to do a lot

of inner work to realize where your

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value and your worth comes from.

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And it doesn't come from

how fast you are running.

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It doesn't come from

the shape of your body.

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It doesn't come from what you

eat or what you don't eat.

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Anyways, and that's interesting, though,

kind of what you're bringing up, how

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social media or not, these are challenges.

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And yeah, social media can.

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Feed that cycle and make it worse those

thoughts, but it doesn't have to like it.

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It is just one one piece of the picture.

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It also can do the opposite.

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It can also help you.

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Right.

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And I think that's what I, I try

and curate my feed and so, so that

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I, I'm seeing a variety of bodies

and that even people in bigger

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bodies can do amazing things.

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I just had, or I had a guest on my

podcast, Sandra McCulloch, she often

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says in on her post that she runs in

a 260 pound body and she's done a 5k

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a day for five years and Six marathons

and so she's just a great example of

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perseverance and it's like your body

can do amazing things and it doesn't

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have to be tiny and and so yeah, just

getting those examples of people who are

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amazing and they're, they don't have to

be tiny and small and thin to, to do that.

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So you're very intentional about

following those types of people,.

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Right.

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I try and follow a variety of

different people, but I also know

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that I just try and pay attention

to how I'm, how I'm feeling after

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I look at a post, a person's page.

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If, if there's only pictures of

them and in their amazing looking

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body, I'm not very likely to follow.

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Or if I, maybe there's a variety

of pictures and videos in there.

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I just get this feeling that I'm

not good enough after looking at

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that, then I will not, not follow.

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So I think there's like, I don't have any

rules about who I do and don't follow.

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Yeah.

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I just like, notice.

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If that's helping my thoughts

or if, if it's hindering them.

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Yeah, just paying attention.

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Like, how do I feel?

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And that's something I think I

follow very few fitness accounts

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and I think it's because of that.

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Like, maybe I do still have

some work to do on, you know, my

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body and body shapes and sizes.

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I think I do still have Probably some

inner work to do for myself on that.

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: 00:19:00

And I think because of that, I'm hesitant

to follow anybody in the fitness world

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: 00:19:06

because it's mostly, you see people

who are working out a lot and you

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: 00:19:10

see lots of pictures of their bodies.

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: 00:19:11

And anyways, that I think that's

really good advice to just pay

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: 00:19:16

attention to how you're feeling

and what thoughts you're having.

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: 00:19:21

And is that helping you?

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: 00:19:22

Or is that hurting you?

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: 00:19:23

I guess that can be

applied to anything, right?

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: 00:19:26

How any account makes you feel

or what thoughts it inspires.

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: 00:19:31

Love that.

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: 00:19:32

Let's see.

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: 00:19:33

Is there anything else?

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: 00:19:34

I feel like we've kind of gone

through each of the questions.

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: 00:19:37

Is there anything else that's coming

up that you want to touch on today?

327

: 00:19:42

I guess in regard to, like, technology

and, and fitness I love your

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: 00:19:49

perspective on your podcast that

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: 00:19:52

our screens can be used for good as well.

330

: 00:19:56

There's been Several different apps

and, and things that have helped in

331

: 00:20:01

my fitness journey that that I don't

always use on my runs, but that I

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: 00:20:06

sometimes use that are helpful.

333

: 00:20:08

Like the Nike Run Club app,

there's like guided runs and

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: 00:20:13

Peloton also has the same thing.

335

: 00:20:16

Wait, Nike Run Club and Peloton,

those were the two apps?

336

: 00:20:19

Mm hmm.

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: 00:20:20

Okay.

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: 00:20:21

I'll have to check those out.

339

: 00:20:23

And they can, like, basically just tell

you, like, go faster, go slower, things

340

: 00:20:27

like that, or like, Or so it's just like,

if you're running by yourself, it's kind

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: 00:20:32

of like running with someone, you know,

they're saying focus on this right now.

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: 00:20:36

And, you know, it's like, Okay, cool.

343

: 00:20:39

And then having like a coach.

344

: 00:20:41

But like just on your

phone, that's so cool.

345

: 00:20:45

I will definitely have to check that out,

346

: 00:20:46

which I want to kind of hear more about

your journey to becoming a coach and

347

: 00:20:50

then like your coaching experiences.

348

: 00:20:53

Yeah.

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: 00:20:53

wEll, I think just like with eating

issues and social media, comparison

350

: 00:21:00

has been a big part of my journey.

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: 00:21:02

And I think.

352

: 00:21:04

When I was considering becoming a coach,

I think it took me so long because I

353

: 00:21:09

was comparing myself like, , for my

running friends, I gravitate toward

354

: 00:21:14

people that are faster than me.

355

: 00:21:16

So I, I.

356

: 00:21:18

I tend to think, well, all my friends,

they're so much better than me and

357

: 00:21:21

you know, they could be coaches

but, I shouldn't, you know, I'm not

358

: 00:21:24

qualified to be a coach and so, yeah,

like I said, when I moved to Canada,

359

: 00:21:31

I, I was a massage therapist in the U.

360

: 00:21:33

S.

361

: 00:21:34

and the Licensing doesn't transfer.

362

: 00:21:37

I would have had to go back to school.

363

: 00:21:39

And so that, and then I

couldn't work for a year while

364

: 00:21:42

I got my, permanent residency.

365

: 00:21:44

Yeah.

366

: 00:21:44

Okay, cool.

367

: 00:21:46

So yeah, it was kind of like, well, what

do I want to do with the rest of my life?

368

: 00:21:50

And so I've done so many different

things from, My degree's in journalism,

369

: 00:21:56

I've been in the military, I've been an

editor, I've been a massage therapist.

370

: 00:22:03

Those really are such

drastically different things.

371

: 00:22:07

Like my, my interests have

always been in health.

372

: 00:22:09

So during the pandemic, I realized

I wanted to work like my own hours.

373

: 00:22:14

I didn't want to have to get childcare.

374

: 00:22:15

So I got certified to teach spinning.

375

: 00:22:20

Okay, cool.

376

: 00:22:21

And then I got my health coaching

certification and wasn't really

377

: 00:22:26

sure what to do with that.

378

: 00:22:28

So then that just kind of led

like, you know, niching down.

379

: 00:22:31

I'm like, yeah, I love running.

380

: 00:22:34

I've been doing it for so long.

381

: 00:22:36

Why couldn't I help people with running?

382

: 00:22:37

So.

383

: 00:22:39

So you specifically coach runners?

384

: 00:22:42

I do runners and now I got hired

by a swimming coach for Assisting

385

: 00:22:49

open water swimming and Okay, cool.

386

: 00:22:52

Now he's teaching me how to coach

swimming in the pool as well for adults.

387

: 00:22:57

So, okay.

388

: 00:22:58

So, and I'm getting certified

to coach triathlon as well.

389

: 00:23:02

Okay.

390

: 00:23:03

So you coach like individuals,

typically adults with running

391

: 00:23:07

and now swimming and triathlons.

392

: 00:23:11

So what does that look

like, like to work with you?

393

: 00:23:14

For my one on one clients I, kind of

have more of a life coaching style.

394

: 00:23:20

We meet one on one , a lot of my

clients initially were far away.

395

: 00:23:25

So we would meet online,

talk for 30 minutes.

396

: 00:23:28

And I think a lot of the

roadblocks for running, it's not

397

: 00:23:32

just about following the plan.

398

: 00:23:33

And doing the work, it's how you're

feeling about doing the work, you

399

: 00:23:37

know, like, yeah, the things that

come up that are not really about

400

: 00:23:42

the physicality, it's the mindset.

401

: 00:23:44

So, well, I mean, even things we've

talked about today in this episode

402

: 00:23:47

of like, where does your worth come

from and comparing yourself to other

403

: 00:23:51

runners and like eating and how much

that plays a role in body image.

404

: 00:23:56

I mean, I think those are

just Transcribed Tiny aspects.

405

: 00:23:58

But like you say, I think anything

can come up in that journey.

406

: 00:24:03

So do you help your clients like come

up with a fitness plan as well and do

407

: 00:24:09

like talking sessions Yeah, right now

my, my main package is like 12 weeks.

408

: 00:24:16

And so if somebody has a specific goal,

I'll write the training plan for them.

409

: 00:24:21

And then we meet once a week Just for

accountability and talking through things.

410

: 00:24:26

But I do also have some longer term

clients that aren't just the 12 weeks.

411

: 00:24:32

But that's kind of like your bread and

butter is like 12 weeks and you help

412

: 00:24:36

them whatever that fitness goal is, help

them through that and then meet weekly.

413

: 00:24:43

So it doesn't have to be in person.

414

: 00:24:45

It can be virtually anywhere.

415

: 00:24:48

That is so cool because honestly, I

didn't even know that was a thing

416

: 00:24:52

that you could have a running coach

outside of my high school running

417

: 00:24:55

coach like this is such a fascinating

concept and so needed, right?, hmm.

418

: 00:25:02

That, and I just think that's so cool

that you combine both of those aspects,

419

: 00:25:07

the running aspect of it and swimming

or triathlons or whatever it is, like

420

: 00:25:12

the, the fitness goals and these other

things that come up in that process.

421

: 00:25:17

And like, that's the whole package.

422

: 00:25:20

That's what people want, right?

423

: 00:25:21

Is like physical and

mental health all together.

424

: 00:25:25

, what a dream job.

425

: 00:25:26

And how much people need you.

426

: 00:25:30

Yeah, I think for a long time I thought,

I just didn't believe that being a

427

: 00:25:35

coach was a real job, like, that people

actually do it, like, I don't know, like

428

: 00:25:41

yeah, entrepreneurship is such a personal

development journey and just like getting

429

: 00:25:47

rid of all those limiting beliefs and.

430

: 00:25:50

Oh my goodness.

431

: 00:25:51

Yes, I could not agree more with that.

432

: 00:25:54

, that's another thing that

you figure out deep down.

433

: 00:25:57

Okay, like, why am I doing this?

434

: 00:25:59

What do I want from this?

435

: 00:26:02

And things come up of what

people will think about you.

436

: 00:26:05

And yeah, well, people

think this is a real job.

437

: 00:26:07

Will people actually pay for this?

438

: 00:26:09

But it's like, yeah, just working

through that is, it's a lot.

439

: 00:26:15

Any last thoughts for my listeners today?

440

: 00:26:19

I think I would just recommend

to people to be mindful of their,

441

: 00:26:25

media if you run or not that it

can be, an excellent tool to help

442

: 00:26:30

encourage others, encourage yourself.

443

: 00:26:33

stay motivated.

444

: 00:26:34

But if it's causing you harm, then

find a way to either try something

445

: 00:26:40

else or try it in a different way.

446

: 00:26:42

And whether you're a runner or not, I

think all people could benefit from.

447

: 00:26:48

Being plucky.

448

: 00:26:49

Don't need to compare

yourself to anyone else.

449

: 00:26:51

Just find out what you love to do and

get started and find a way to keep going.

450

: 00:26:58

I love that.

451

: 00:27:00

And can you remind me the definition

one more time of what plucky means?

452

: 00:27:05

Plucky is determined courage.

453

: 00:27:07

Determined courage.

454

: 00:27:08

Okay.

455

: 00:27:09

And it's plucky not perfect., what a

good motto for life, plucky not perfect.

456

: 00:27:16

That's so powerful.

457

: 00:27:18

And where can my listeners find you?

458

: 00:27:21

The podcast is on Spotify and Apple

Music, and you can find me at Carrie

459

: 00:27:27

Joe Bradley on Mostly hang out on

Instagram and that's my website as well.

460

: 00:27:32

Carrie joe bradley.com.

461

: 00:27:35

Okay, perfect.

462

: 00:27:36

So carrie joe bradley.com.

463

: 00:27:38

Carrie Joe Bradley on Instagram,

and then your podcast is

464

: 00:27:40

called Plucking Not Perfect on.

465

: 00:27:43

Spotify or Apple Podcasts, which

I think that like then distributes

466

: 00:27:47

it to lots of others, right?

467

: 00:27:48

Yeah.

468

: 00:27:49

So virtually anywhere you listen

to a podcast, you can find it.

469

: 00:27:53

Great.

470

: 00:27:54

Thank you so much.

471

: 00:27:55

I really appreciate your

vulnerability and also your wisdom.

472

: 00:27:59

I really resonate with what you teach.

473

: 00:28:02

So thank you so much.

474

: 00:28:03

Thank you.