Episode 58: Susanne Mueller - Take It from the Ironwoman

Episodes

May 24

Susanne Mueller came to New York from Switzerland with $2,000, ran 26 marathons, climbed Kilimanjaro and gave a TEDx talk. Her secret: whatever she starts, she finishes.

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About this episode

Susanne Mueller grew up in Thun, Switzerland, moved to New York City in 1991 and never left. She is an executive coach, an Ironman, the author of Take It from the Iron Woman and Lipstick Leadership, a TEDx speaker, and host of a podcast with more than 400 episodes. She has finished 26 marathons, 15 of them in New York, and ran 3:42 four times before she finally qualified for Boston.

We talk about going to school at night while working at the Swiss Mission to the United Nations, losing her corporate job and starting her E=PL3 blog in India, and her best Boston Marathon. We also cover climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, coaching for New York Road Runners, racing in Ottawa and Rio, preparing for her TEDx talk, and how she protects her mental health.

In this episode, we discuss

Growing up in Thun, Switzerland and speaking five languages with an accent
Why she has stayed in New York City since 1991
Going to school at night and starting her master's at Columbia in September 2001
Losing her job and starting the E=PL3 blog during five weeks in India
Turning her blog into books and recording more than 400 podcast episodes
Finishing every one of her 26 marathons
Her first New York City Marathon in 1993 in a cotton T-shirt
Running 3:42 four times before qualifying for Boston
Her 3:36 Boston PR and why visualizing the finish line matters
Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, altitude sickness and playing Uno with the guides
Coaching for New York Road Runners and running in Central Park in the snow
Racing the Ottawa Marathon in the heat and running Rio "for beauty"
How she landed and prepared for her TEDx talk
Mental health, sleep and not being so hard on yourself
Her mantra about the roommate in her head and her next book

Chapters

Intro
From Thun to New York
Life in New York City
Night school and Columbia
Starting the E=PL3 blog
Books and 400 podcast episodes
26 marathons, all finished
Her first New York City Marathon
Four 3:42s and qualifying for Boston
Climbing Kilimanjaro
Coaching for New York Road Runners
Ottawa and Rio
Giving a TEDx talk
Mental health
Mantra and next milestone

Where to find Susanne

Website: susannemueller.biz
Instagram: Take It from the Iron Woman

Mentioned in this episode

Races: New York City Marathon, Boston Marathon, Ottawa Marathon, Rio de Janeiro Half Marathon, Steamtown Marathon, Ironman, Indy Mini Marathon, Revel Big Cottonwood
Organizations and charities: New York Road Runners, Swiss Mission to the United Nations, Columbia University, Nestle, TEDx, Athletic Brewing
Other: Inches to Miles, Take It from the Iron Woman (book and podcast), Lipstick Leadership, Eat Pray Love, Mount Kilimanjaro, Daniela Ryf

Previous guests mentioned

Related episodes

Frequently asked

How many marathons has Susanne Mueller run?

Susanne Mueller has finished 26 marathons, including 15 New York City Marathons, and her fastest time is 3:36 at the Boston Marathon.

How long did it take Susanne Mueller to qualify for Boston?

Susanne Mueller needed a 3:40 to qualify for the Boston Marathon and ran 3:42 four times before finally qualifying, with help from visualizing the finish line.

What is E=PL3?

E=PL3 is the name of Susanne Mueller's blog: E for energy, P for play and L3 for lifelong learning.

Support this show

Transcript

This transcript was generated automatically, so it may contain errors.

Welcome to Finish Lines and Milestones with Ally Brettnacher. Incredible stories and tales of triumphs with everyday people achieving their goals and fitness. This podcast brought to you by Athlete Bouquets. Celebrate finish lines and milestones of the people that you love by visiting athletebouquets.com. Hello and welcome to episode 58, This is Ally Brettnacher. Last night I got to see a film called Inches to Miles. I was at the second Indianapolis premiere of this film that was made by Athletic Brewing Productions. If you're not familiar with Athletic Brewing, they make non alcoholic beer that's actually good. I've actually known of them since I was pregnant with my first daughter in 2017 when they launched as a company.

My personal favorite are both of their Ipas I find really. Good. And one of the individuals featured in this film is Timmy Howard, who was on this podcast a few episodes ago. He's episode 54. If you have not listened to his episode, go do that. Timmy is a recovering addict. He was addicted to heroin for 12 years, homeless for six years. And last year, he completed the full Iron Man at Lake Placid. So this film follows Timmy and two other athletes, Lynn and Shannon, as they also tackle this endurance event, and their stories are all incredible. I don't know how in the heck they fit all three of them into 70 minutes, but they managed to do it.

And it'll be available everywhere on YouTube next Tuesday, June 4th, the day before National Running Day. I will most likely, since it's on YouTube, watch it on my Peloton treadmill because you can do that now. So if you have a Peloton treadmill or bike, you can watch it and it's going to blow your mind and you will be so motivated while you're working out. So thank you, Timmy, for all that you do for our running community. I'm so, so happy that I now know you and I'm excited to listen to your episode of our guest. This week's podcast. Suzanne Mueller is who I interviewed this week and she has a podcast called Take It from the Iron Woman.

And I know we're talking about Ironman races, but I promise this episode we'd actually don't really talk about triathlons. There's so much more to Suzanne. So she is an author of two books, soon to be a third book. She's a Ted X speaker, She's an entrepreneur. She is a runner. She is also a Blogger. She has over 700 blog posts and I was introduced to her by Om Gandhi, who was episode 12 of this podcast. Om is an ultra marathoner based out on the West Coast doing incredible things. And so thank you Om for this introduction. During this episode, we talk about how Suzanne has lived in New York City for quite a while, and it's really where she's got into gotten into running.

And she's a marathoner times 2615 of those are New York City marathons. So if you're running New York City this year, you could probably ping her for some tips. And she also has run a time of 342 four different times. And she needed a 340 to qualify for Boston, which she eventually did. Spoiler alert, she's also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. She has been to Rio for a race, Canada. So we share a lot of those stories. We talk about mental health since May is mental health awareness. And tomorrow happens to be the last day of the month. So good to end on that topic. And I can't wait for you to hear this episode with Suzanne.

Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. Hi, Ali. I was trying to think back over all of my guests and I think you are the first person I've had with an accent. OK, if you can. Believe that. So you have up levelled the podcast already and you are originally from Switzerland, correct? Yeah, that's correct. What city in Switzerland? It's close to the capital Bern. It's called THUN. And usually people pronounce like sun. And I'm like, no, this is wrong. We tell people it's like tuna fish or it's like cartoons. It's beautiful on a lake. And we see the snow capped mountains and everybody's asking me why did you leave?

And I'm like, yeah, the mountains and the lake will be there. But there were there's not that many job opportunities there. So my sister's in Germany, I'm in the US. What can you do? And how long have you been in the US? Oh, forever, forever I've I I came to the US in 1991. 91 Wow. Yeah, it always surprises me how long you maintain an accent. So do you just are you constantly speaking all different languages? I noticed you have 5 in your repertoire which is incredible. I think I studied psychology and I think there's something in your brain that happens at the age of, I don't know, 10 or 15.

So if you speak a language until the age of 10 or 15 and then you learn another one, you will always have an accent. And I know there's people who have you can take classes in action accent reduction and stuff like that. But I always say I speak 5 languages and I have an accent in all of them. The people are laughing. I'm like, you know what? We can talk French, we can talk English, whatever. I have an accent. But somebody once said, I don't think with an accent. How interesting is that? Wow, that's deep actually there, I know. Yeah. Because sometimes I hate to say, but there are days when people say I hear an accent and I'm like, everybody has an accent.

I get a little angry. So there are days when I'm more mindful and say, yeah, yeah. And then other days it's like, I don't think with an accent. So I think this is a very good saying. Yeah, I really like that. And now I realize not only do we have technical issues before starting, but now I've offended you right off the bat by talking about your accent. Perfect. I can handle it today. Today is good. Today's a good day, Thank goodness. Well, I'm just so glad that Ohm introduced the two of us. And I had to look up which episode he was on my podcast.

He was episode 12. So for anybody who hasn't listened to Ohm's episode, they need to go do that because he did a ultra marathon on Mount Everest, which is just mind blowing. He is so cool. I think when you listen to OM, I feel like the biggest slacker, whatever he's doing. So I'm very happy that we are connected to him and his organization. But I think it also inspired me to do more not to, just like today is not a good day. I'm thinking, OK, he's doing ultra marathons and it's just incredible. It's a different level of mindset. I mean, I can do marathon, I can train for marathons.

It's one mindset. But go beyond that is is I cannot fathom that. Yeah, yeah. It's what he's doing is just incredible. I've not done more than 26.2 miles and at one point I thought I would never do more than 13.1, right. The idea of turning around and doing it again, but then you realize, well, you don't. You train for the race, so you would be trained to go further. So who knows? Someday I hope to do an ultra marathon as well, maybe not quite to the extent that Ohm does. It's. It's amazing what you can do with your mind. And once I ran a marathon in Canada and they use kilometers, so it was running 910 and the miles or the kilometers that come very fast actually.

So then you come around to 26 and in my mind I'm like 26 miles. So this was very hard for me to get into that mindset. So I think whoever is listening and challenging themselves to go and run a marathon where they have kilometers, get into that mindset. It's going to be a long journey even though it's still 26.2 miles. But psychologically to see like 313241 is was amazing. Yeah, that would be really tough. I feel like it's similar in races I've done where you can see a part of the course that you're going to see later. You know what I'm talking about. You like see the 10 mile marker and you're like, oh, I'll be there in like an hour and a half.

Great. It's really. Hard. Oh, you see the the winners and you're like, Oh, yes, and they run uphill and you're like, OK, I got to go there. Yep, Yep. So we, I'm from Indianapolis, IN and we have 1/2 marathon that runs around our Motor Speedway. So we have the Indianapolis 500. And so this half marathon, you run around the track and they have big Jumbotron video monitors and you see the typically when I'm on the track, the winners are going through. So it's like, cool. Yeah, I'm halfway. See you soon. Oh, man. And so you were in New York City now, correct? Yes, that's correct.

Yeah. Have you when you moved to the States, have you always been in New York City? Yeah, I think this is the fascination. I was working for the airline and obviously in New York City we on 5th Ave. we had to we had that office which is close to Rockefeller Center and I always said if I move to another place, it has to be a bigger city. I come from tune with 40,000 people. Wow. And the whole country has 8 million, but in Manhattan or like the bigger New York area is 8 million. So this was the fascination I think I, I don't, I used to work in Connecticut.

So taking the train to Connecticut, I didn't like it as much. The fascination is with that pulse and the energy that you have in New York City. But then also then also the the Central Park, the the lung that you have is just inspiring. And we need to have like some quiet time, which is not so easy in New York. Yeah, I used to be able to travel to New York for work. So before what I do now, I was in software and my territory that I covered was New York. And so I got to go for work and I just, it is such a magical place and I feel like in another life I would have loved to have the opportunity to live there.

Now I have small kids and both sets of grandparents are here, so it's kind of like I'll go visit. But I'm really envious of people who live in New York City because it's just so special. It is special, but it's also demanding. It's the energy can suck you in. And I think as a runner, actually running is helping to probably you're tired so you don't go and go to the museum, go to the show or meet people, go to a party. So with the running, you're actually also sometimes tired, so you stay home. So you need to find a, a very good balance to yeah, to be balanced.

And as an entrepreneur, it's very competitive. So I always feel like New York is like a revolving door. People come and go, come and go. And sometimes after a while you're like some newcomers, which is also exciting. Don't do this, don't do that. And they come, hey, hey, Suzanne, what's where, where should I go? Where's the dentist? Where is the doctor? So you're kind of like that repository of good addresses or where people should go or shouldn't go. So it's it's a funny phenomenon in a way. Yeah, that is, that is really funny. I, I love that the people are like, well, you know, you've been here forever.

Tell us, tell us everything. I am just so impressed by you. And I, I think I said this to you when we recorded for your podcast, Take It from the Iron Woman. But I just I, I look at your website, you have over 700 blog posts you've written over the years. You have over 400 podcast episodes. You've published at least two books. If, unless I miss more, you're a Ted X speaker and you know, an Iron Man, right? Obviously. And jeez. So where to begin on all of your incredible accomplishments? I, I would love to just hear about how you got into running initially and just how everything kind of has come about from there.

It's just such a cool journey and so incredible. Thank you. Yeah, it's, I think New York has helped me to open up and looking at different things. I was always very curious. So I always loved travelling, I loved reading and learning. So I think these are the three main elements that I have. And coming to New York, I always wanted to go back to school, get my bachelor's, and for some reason it was never possible. In New York, you always have a lot of visitors and they have fun. And I'm like, oh, no, later, later. And at one point I said to myself, now is the time.

Now is the time for myself. So I was working for the Swiss Mission to the United Nations and the job was, I would say not. It was demanding, but not super demanding. So I was able to go to school at night and basically when you think about the runner, you have to have to discipline. So I would go and work till 5:00, nine to five, and then at 6:30 the classes started. By 9:00 or 9:30 I was home. By 10:00 I was in bed, by 6:00 I got up again and this was for three years like a machine. And this also got me through it and the running was actually super helping, right.

So when you're, you know that you're very focused when you have a plan that's translated into the going to college, being at the Swiss Mission. And usually I would do all my homework Saturday, Sunday and Monday came around and like, I'm tired, I need a break. So thankfully I can go to work. So I have to be grateful for that opportunity that I was able to do that. And then I started my maths program at Columbia University 2001, September 11 happened and it was not a fun time to go to school talking about business. But nevertheless, I got through that and because I'm from Switzerland, I needed a visa and who was hiring international people?

Nobody. So then my visa was good till December and I got the job in November. So I work very well under stress. The really the stress you want, but maybe the running has helped me to keep that balance and trusting myself and trusting that everything will work out. And by that time, that was 2003, I ran already maybe 456 or even more marathons. I think it's the discipline that you have that kept me going. And then I was working at Nestle for seven years. I was working at the Cool SAP implementation project with people from around the world and again was cool. And then my job got eliminated.

So I call that the American Dream. You come with a dream. I came with $2000 in my pockets and the real American Dream. And then you don't have a job. I was by myself, no family, no rich parents. What do you do? And this was the time in 2009 or 10 when people started to have a blog. And I knew that I couldn't go from 1:00 corporate job to the next. I was kind of burned out. And I was like, I mean, I was applying the jobs, but I didn't land the job. So then I said, why don't I go to India for five weeks?

And I started, this was a time when that book Eat Pray Love came out. I said, Elizabeth Gilbert and obviously we cannot steal her mantra Eat, Pray Love. And I was thinking, what else can I, what else can be the mantra for my blog? Then I looked Einstein EMC squares like that's maybe I don't understand too much about that. Not good either. So I came up with E equals PL3 and E is for energy. And I can write about cool energy, healthy habits and whatever the mindset is. I think that's how I interpret that. And then the P is for play because in the real world, we don't focus enough on play.

And we say, oh, playing is for children. But I think if you have a crazy idea, it's it's playing. So if you're curious, if you follow your intuition, yeah, it's, it's important to have that play. And then the L3, and this is what I'm working on now, is lifelong learning. So that's why the L3, so lifelong learning. So then I initially it was like a travel blog where I was so my family and friends could kind of like read where I am and where I was actually doing some volunteer work, some leadership trainings for young girls in rural areas. And The funny thing was I gave a talk and I was focusing it on soft skills.

And I had a translator. And then I said, yeah, we focus on soft skills. And I, I saw his eyes and he was like soft skills. And then I knew he didn't know what soft skills was, let alone how to translate. And I was like, Oh my God, I was sweating. And I was like, this doesn't work. So whatever you learn in your Ivy League school does not apply there. And I was like, oh, what do I do now? What do I do now? So obviously I had to change my program and everything. And it was so much fun. It was more about storytelling and engaging the, the girls.

We had so much fun. And also the girl said to me, you have to sing for us. And I was like, sing for you. I'm I'm really not a singer. And this thankfully was before all the social media. So nobody else helped me. So I was singing with them and it was, it was a lot of fun. So we were laughing. This was the P of the play of my blog. Really, when I look back, it's like these were fun times. And yeah, it was, it was necessary to be away from all the chatter for five weeks. The social media was not that big at that time.

So it was more the blogging that came out and I've kept it up. And then I morphed more into, I'm going to say leadership blog. Now I talk. Obviously the month of May is the mental health awareness month, so I can talk about that. I always like to kind of like start of the year in January, like looking back, looking forward. So what have you achieved? What will you not the New Year's resolution, but more So what intentions do you have this year's? How can I help you as an executive coach with your goals that you want to achieve? And it's not those New Year's resolution like losing 20 lbs, running a marathon.

It's more so like. Let's just see what is possible and what brings joy to me. So more like this. And then February, I like to talk about athletics or fitness. So I have a few topics that I like, but still like EPL three is is the most important. And then the book The Ticket from the Iron Woman started. This is kind of like more my journey from Switzerland to New York to Kilimanjaro and what it all entails. And then during the pandemic, I took the time and somebody says, what do you do with all your blogs? No. So somebody said, why don't you put it in a book?

And I was like, oh, good idea. Because these are mine. I wrote them. I always have a disclaimer. I wrote all my blogs by myself, not AI except one. I used AI to see how it works. Then I took a few of the stories and put it in the next book in the Lipstick Leadership. And the next, the Little Sister of Lipstick Leadership, will be here in September. So you'll see many more things, what's happening. So this is a little secret at the moment. And in 2019, I started the podcast, and again, this helped me through the pandemic, actually, to use my network or my running friends, Iron Man, crazy people to tell their stories.

So that's how we have 400 episodes. And it's fun, maybe not the editing, but it's fun to interview people like you. Where do you start? What do you do? And I'm also learning about other people. And I think I use my podcast more as a grassroot in a way that we can lift others up, like on who's, like, doing such great work behind the scenes. And he's like, yeah, I do 150 miles. I'm like 150 miles. No much time drive with your car. 150 miles, you know it takes forever, let alone running. Yeah. Have you always been a writer? Did that just come naturally to you?

Like from the blog standpoint? Because it's takes such discipline to do that just and keep up with it for that long. Yeah. Well, no, I don't think I've, I would consider myself as a writer. I was once invited at the webinar with writers and they say you're a writer. I'm like, no, I'm not really a writer. They were people with MFA and editors and one person was working with the Sesame Street and I was like, I'm not really a writer. And then I say, but you have published 2 books. I'm like, OK, then I'm a writer. But I mean, I always say English is not my first language.

I do what I can. And some people say, oh, there's mistakes. I'm like, yeah, there's mistakes, but you know, nobody's perfect. Yeah. Yeah, but I think if you have books, then you won't have a professional editor to make it as perfect as possible. But the discipline, I think it's also my, in a way, my meditation where I don't have to talk to anybody. As an executive coach, it feels like I'm always talking around teaching and mentoring. So it's always like talk, talk, talk. So then the writing is also something for myself. And when I write A blog, sometimes I use actually a a link. And when I need something for my facilitation or speaking engagements, I know I've written a book and I can go back.

So it's somewhere. So it's also my library in a way that's in a way selfish when I have write the blog to keep those links and articles in a space where I know I can find them easily. Yeah, wow. And then 400 episodes of a podcast since 2019. What's the frequency there? Do you do more than once a week then? I used to have two podcasts per week. OK. And I think two years ago I said, oh, it's enough. It's in. It's too much because the the team who is editing is me, myself and I. So it's yeah, but thanks to now there I use AII get a transcript and then I put it in other platform, the Audacity or Phonics.

So that's kind of like what is helping a lot. But yeah, it's, it's a lot of work and we all look for sponsors, whoever is listening, we need sponsors for our podcast, whoever wants to support us for the for the good work we're doing. That would be helpful, but at the moment there's none. So it's it's a passion project and yeah, it's OK. Yeah, I look at it, I really look at it that way too. I have a friend who has a running podcast and actually has built now a podcast network and she has like 10,000 listeners. Like she has a big following and I, she's actually from Indianapolis.

And so I got a chance to talk to her kind of after I started my podcast and she's just said, you know, there's, it's just so incredibly hard to make money doing it. So, you know, and that's not why I started it. That's clearly not why you started it. It's, it's more for me, it's almost like selfishly motivational for me too. Like I meet all these incredible inspiring people. It just gets me fired up all the time. I mean, I just constantly feed on that, that energy and motivation. But yeah, certainly would always take money from sponsors. Yeah, right. Yeah, for sure. So, well, I just think it's incredible that you have done all of that.

I mean, content creation, you know, especially now I feel like is just even more so prevalent. But you've been doing it for a long time. How many back to kind of the running topic? How many marathons have you done to this day, Suzanne? I've done. I've completed 26 marathon races. Wow. And I have to say I completed every single one of them. So people say, like, have you finished out? I think as marathon runners, we know when you say I've done 26, that means you started and you finished. Yes. I think I didn't complete two of the races, not not like shorter distances. One was after a marathon.

Maybe that's not the best idea Saturday after the marathon to do eight mile or something, not the best idea. And the other one I was just exhausted. It was cold and I was like it was like a 2 loop path marathon. I'm like I'm done today, but I forever whatever I started and I think that's my philosophy. Whatever I start, I finish. And when he asked me about the discipline of the blog or the podcast, I think that's that's what keeps me going is that never giving up mentality. I think that's how I was brought up. You start something, you finish something, and obviously we know there's no finish line.

There's always a next race or something else that comes our way. Yeah, yeah, I can appreciate that. I'm, I'm lucky that all, I think, yeah, all of the races I've done, I've been able to finish. And so I've done 7 marathon full marathons and then I've done 59 half marathons. And I keep saying it's only a matter of time until, you know, until I have a race that's like that I can't finish or that's cancelled in the middle or you know, I think you do it. It's a numbers game kind of. You do enough of them. You know, there's going to be one where it just really doesn't go my way, which is OK, but I'm lucky enough to this point I haven't had that, but I know it'll happen and that's fine.

I wanted to hear some stories from your marathons 26. That's so cool. And just given, you know, I read somewhere you've been over to to over 50 countries. It's like where have all these races taken place? And maybe give give some highlights of some of your most favorite or maybe not so favorite races. Obviously I've done 15 New York City Marathon, not consecutive, but 15. And New York is always the most special because you, I think at one given point they say there's 2,000,000 spectators and the spectators, I feel like they're there for me only. Obviously they're there for other people, but they're for me.

And the first year I did it, obviously I didn't know what to expect. I had a cotton T-shirt. Somebody gave me my longest run. My friend says it's about the shorter distances. I did the longest run 1/2 I 1/2 marathon and she said if you can do half, you can do full. So that was my mindset. I know I'm like, there's much more, but you know, I had fun. It was a nice day. I had the time of my life. I I literally, I didn't know what to expect. I think these were the times before the goo. I, the first one was 1993. I didn't know what to expect, but I finished and I was very happy.

I was ready for the world. And I, I remember on Tuesday somebody said, oh, let's have coffee. So I went to our house and she says, you know, I don't, you're the first person that I was run a marathon. You're my hero. And I was like, oh, I'm your hero. So there's this was, you know, the early days when I always say in the early days when you started running, there were T-shirts like they were blue, red, white, Gray and obviously black. And now when you look at the merchandise that you can have, you can have all the colours that you want and more. I think it's it's about the looks these days.

It was the real people were running and in cotton socks probably also at that time and whatever. So I think that it has changed. And I also think like I had a a watch a Timex and it would only record the last 8 miles. So I actually had to do some math in my math person. Yeah, that's. Hard kept me going. OK, I need another 8 minutes or 9 minutes or what will that mean? So that these are all the early days. I remember last year somebody was asking me what do you think I should do with my phone? And I was like phone. So when I started to run, there was no phone.

So I don't know what you do with the phone. So you have to find another solution. These were the days. And actually New York, it was a smaller community. You knew everybody like the New Yorkers. And if as a New Yorker, if you wanted to get into the marathon, you stood in line at the finish line with a check in your hand and everything was in paper. So you, yeah, it was a paper you filled out, This is my name, I'm healthy, blah, blah, blah. You had the check. You you gave it to the person and they stamped it and you were in or something like that.

So this we would have, I think one of my friends daughter's boyfriend stood in line for us runners and then they would all go together. So it was happening. It when you think about the marathon these days, it's it's you, it's an individual sport, but it's also that support that you create. And I think when you and I met, you're like, oh, we're marathon runners. So we know how that is. It's that community that you create that is that lasts a lifetime. I mean, we, we've lost, unfortunately, a few people. There's people have babies, marriage and everything. So you go through many life stages with, with all of of the people.

So this was my first marathon. And I think after the first marathon was like, I want to do better. I want to do better. And I always said, so my first marathon was 454. And I always tell people, you know, your first marathon, try to beat my time because I mean, I didn't train. And then the next marathon, I think I was 20 minutes faster. Then I knew what to train and everything. And then every time it got a little faster and I was like, woo Hoo. And then obviously under four was a huge thing when you reached that. I think the first time I had 358, I was like, whoa.

And then as you get faster, Boston obviously is on the radar. Then took me 4 marathons to qualify. I needed a 340 at that time and I ran 4 * 342. My friend says you're like a Swiss clock, 342-340-2340 to four times. And I ran usually two, like a spring marathon and the New York City Marathon. And we all know that New York City is not the fastest marathons. It's harder to qualify because there's more people, there's more turns. So it's not so easy. And then we would go to, I think it was Scranton, PA. And they say it's a cool course, it's a downhill, it's good weather.

Well, it was cold. It was hilly, in my opinion. I had like a throwaway cotton shirt on. I never threw it away. It was so cold. And then the last, I think the last was the, the finish line was an uphill. I'm like, OK, thank you, 342 again. I did not qualify. But then when you qualify this kind of like you're on cloud #9 and then you sign up for Boston. And the Boston Marathon is really, really special. So it's the Mount Everest of, of, of the running world. And I also have to say, when I was in Boston the first time, I saw so many people in the wheelchairs and I still have that image.

Everybody looks so happy. And I was like, you know, we're really privileged. But see, look at all those people in the wheelchair. They're here. They they do the same distance and it's even harder for them, I think. But this was my, in a way, my appreciation of what they do in Boston especially. And I love the Boston Marathon. Obviously at the best time. The second, the third time I was there in Boston, I ran 336. This was my fastest time. And I mean, it's a long time ago, but once you've done it, nobody can take that away. And actually, I was at mile 12 where the Wesley girls are like, everything is very loud.

And my hips started to hurt and I was like, maybe I should give up. And then I'm like, no, you trained so long. Obviously all the negative thoughts are coming. You've trained so long. It's such an expensive event like hotel, the flight and everything. You cannot give up. And in a way, I, I had a 816 pace, which is very fast for a marathon. And then the hills come, the heartbreak hill. I went up that hill and I, I at one point I think at kilometre 40, I'm like, I think I need to slow down a little bit otherwise I bonk. And it was just kept going, kept going, kept going.

And then I said to my, I finished in 336 and I said to my friend, I think we need to buy the newspaper to see if I really did that time. It was almost like a outer world experience. I was on such a high and actually I didn't obviously trained well. We would train in New York, 16 miles in Central Park and then there is the whole loop on the northern end and it's hilly and we would do four more hills and you're like almost dead. But that's the training we did. And that was kind of like key. But what I also, and for the listeners, so you can train on the hills for that Heartbreak Hill, but the last four miles in Boston are actually very boring.

And I train, train, train for the hills, but I never trained for the flat. So then I'm like 4 more miles and you see that's it goes on forever and you're like, when does it end? When does it end? So it's the mindset. So I think what I want to give to everybody who's a marathon run, it's about the visualization. Visualize the course. If you can see the course at least the finish line is so important. And I remember I was in, I think it was in Nashville, that was Louis Love Nashville and Louisville. I did So in Louisville. I said I want to see the finish line because I knew I would be very close of qualifying again for Boston.

And so I knew we we would run straight, make a right, make another right, and then there will be four more streets and then turn around to the finish line. And I qualified for Boston. I had tears in my eyes. But if I hadn't done that, I would not have qualified. So it's that visualization is so important. And I always like to see the finish line because then you like, I see where I'm going. I think that has helped me a lot. So obviously Boston is my favorite because it was the fast, but it's a difficult marathon because you have to pace yourself, especially the beginning when you have downhill you, you have like wings and you're like going.

And then at mile 16, those hills are coming. Yeah, I have yet to run Boston, but I will. I've finally put it out in the universe that that's something that I would like to do, that I would like to qualify for Boston. I'm almost 40, so I'm getting close to that kind of next getting some additional minutes. We'll see, We'll see. But I'm I, I want to go. My dad has been, I've had lots of friends that have been and it just yeah, I always have FOMO, like watching, seeing everybody do it. So I'm like, OK, I want that. I'm going to get there. So but I've, I've done New York.

I was there in 2018. Did you run in 2018? No, no. Well, we weren't there together in 2018, but I, I loved New York. I, we got a good day of weather, which is kind of how I pictured it. I wanted that like blue sky to be able to see and take in the city. And I didn't know Central Park was hilly. So the only times I'd ever run were on the flat part. And I realized that now, you know, obviously Central Park is so huge, but thankfully somebody did tell me like the day before the race. So I at least knew there were going to be some hills, but I didn't know how.

That was hard. That was hard part of the race for sure. Yeah, it's the the, the bridges and the when you enter Center Park. And even before Center Park, there's this gradual uphill that looks flat on the map, but it's it's a little bit and you're at mile 20 already, so that's when the race starts. For sure, right. Yes, yeah, yeah. Any incline at that point is feels like a mountain for sure which I just gave myself a good Segway mountain. Tell me about how you ended up climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Yeah, well, obviously I grew up in Switzerland, so hiking is what we did. On the weekends.

We would go every Sunday. Sometimes we're like, oh, we don't want to go. We don't want to go as kids, obviously, but we would always make a fire and it was fun and. These were the good days, right? So a friend of mine said to me, hey, let's this is a bucket list. Let's do this. And I was like, all right, let's do this. And she said in hindsight, and I had her also on the podcast, she said, you know, I knew I could go with you because it would be a good tent made. It's not so easy. So you're 9 days sleeping in a tent and you don't sleep so well at high altitude.

And so we, we were very compatible. But yeah, climbing Kilimanjaro certainly was a bucket list. And I would, I would buy hiking shoes. And then I said, you need to train. You need to train. I'm like, how do you train in New York City for high altitude? I remember one day I went to the museum and then I took, put on the shoes after the museum, obviously. And then I would walk home or I was training for the marathons. I felt like I'm fairly fit, but then on the mountain I'm always cold. So on the mountain I would people would laugh. You're cold. I'm like, yeah, I'm cold.

I put an extra fleas on or and then we would check our heart rate and I didn't feel so good. I, I was, I looked at the food and I was like, I'm not hungry. I'm not hungry. And as a runner, we know you need to eat, you need to fuel, especially when you're on high altitude. Obviously you can eat anything you want on that trip because you don't want to be on a diet, obviously. Right. But then the the guy said to me, you know, you need to take those pills. And somebody said take the altitude, high altitude pills with you, you might not need them.

And I felt like I was one of the fitter people in our group. But then when I took those pills, everything was fine because he said, if you don't take the pills, you might not make it. And what what is interesting, I think you can be the fittest person, but if the high altitude kicks in, you just don't feel good. Like I couldn't sleep. I wasn't not drinking, I did enough, but eating, I was like, I'm not hungry, I'm not hungry. And I knew this is not going to happen, so I had to. And what we also need to learn is like listen to the guides.

They know. They've done it so many times. And our guide, he was, he was such a funny man. So they have done 10 times. Kilimanjaro, you're like 10 times of the month. He made it so special for us as if it was his first time. I thought that was very impressive. Like he could have said like, Oh yeah, it's another trade. But he was enthusiastic and he said look at this, look at like he gave us the best and it was really enjoyable. And in a way, Mount Kilimancharo. So we took the western route, which is not so difficult. In a way it is difficult because the high altitude.

And if you read the story of Mount Kilimancharo, there was this guidance. More is his name. There was a boulder coming down and he he died or even a military person, AUS military person died on the last hundred 200 yards. So it's not something that you just it's not a walk in the park. Let's put it this way. So you need to be mentally ready. I think it's more than mental preparing. Obviously if you're a fit person, you can do it. And we had guides who were carrying our 20 lbs for us. So every time we would arrive, there was a tent beautifully laid out in the back.

So that was the easy part. But it's, it's not so easy. And obviously you don't, you don't travel for 9 days. If you're not ready for that, then don't go. And you get every morning and every time you arrive, you get a little bucket with water and then you, you just wash a little bit. Maybe not hygienic part of the of the trip, but you know, everybody is in the same boat. And I took a book with me thinking, Oh yeah, we have the time because you arrived two or three o'clock, you're tired, so you take a nap when you arrive. And what was funny, somebody had the Uno card game with them.

So we used that with the guides because the guides knew it. And you will play Uno at night. So whoever goes to Kilimanjaro, don't take a book with you. Take the Uno game or whatever game you eat on a big table and you can all play. You might not speak the same language, but playing cards was such a a cool thing. And also when the guides knew there were three or four guides with us, when they knew that I was a coach, I said can you coach me? And I was like, what do you want? How can I become better? And it was, it was such a nice way of connecting with the people.

And I also wanted to know how is it for them? So I was curious. They had a whole big tent where they had the kitchen and all the guides would sleep in a, in a big tent. I mean, I think there were maybe 10 people in one tent. And we had the luxury of two people in one tent and, and you saw them carrying up eggs, like, you know, we're carrying walking slow. They're just running up like gazelles with eggs. And once in the morning, we got up and they're like, oh, it was so windy. The whole tent flew away. And we're like, where, where?

Oh, we just had to do it overnight. So they're used to all the elements. And they were just, it was like almost like the red carpet that was rolled out for us. And yeah, it was. Wow, did they have? Were there others in your group aside you and your friend? Or was it just you and your friend and those guides? No, we were, I think there were two groups of, I'm going to say 10 people each. And we, we would kind of like when we got to the camp where we would stay and sleep at night, we would meet with the other group, but we didn't have so much contact with the other group.

So our group, I think we were eight or ten people. It was nice and small. I think is is really nice and the food was amazing. The only thing that I would criticize is they cooked basically the American diet. So not so much the local food, but it makes sense because you don't want to have an upset stomach so you want to basically eat what you are used to. And I'm a vegetarian so they really catered to me. They made soups for me and sometimes I think the other people said to me, can we have from your soup? And I'm like, no, this is my soup.

Yeah, it was actually. But the food was was really, really excellent. Oh, that's, that's interesting. I had recently, I had, I can't remember, maybe two or three episodes ago, a friend of mine, Carly, who will probably listen to this, she climbed Kilimanjaro and she got sick kind of exactly like you described, except hers didn't end with her taking medicine and feeling better. She just dragged herself up that mountain, somehow made it. And then she said the way down was a lot quicker, which makes sense. But she had previously gone and done. Was it Everest? Yeah. Everest Base camp. Not not to summit, but to go to base camp.

And her her partner, her husband now got really sick. And they had, he had to be helicoptered off for that one. So these, these adventures are foreign to me. I've, I've traveled quite a bit, but I've, I've not, and I've done some hiking, but not anything that required a lot of gear. Like I've just kind of done, you know, think about like Colorado hiking, stuff like that. So it's just really incredible to think about doing something like that. And you also realize how little you need. You basically need, I don't know, two or three pairs of socks, 2 T-shirts. You don't need like makeup or.

Right. Any of the notebooks. And I think it's that that health issues can come even with the healthiest person you don't know. Yeah, I remember doing, I did a race in in Salt Lake City, UT, Big Cottonwood. It's a run Revel series race where they bust you to the top of the mountain and then you run down. And I remember for days leading up to that, I found something on Amazon called Acclimate and it was this powder you put in water that was supposed to help you without like prepare for the altitude. I don't know if it was real or not, but I was like, well, if it makes me think that it's helping and that's all I need.

So thankfully that went well and I didn't have any issues there. But I've since have had issues with altitude in traveling to Colorado. I don't know if it's just being a little older, I don't know, but that can be crazy. Stuff. I was once in Colorado and we flew from New York to Vale for skiing. Oh yeah. I I was like the first few days or probably the whole week, I was like, what is wrong with my stomach? And then I realized, oh, we're at altitude. So it can happen to you even if you're the healthiest person. Yeah, altitude is something, yeah. It's humbling, that's for sure.

Yeah. In New York, are you in a running group? Like do you have an organized group that you're a part of or have been a part of in the past in the city? Yeah, actually I've been a running coach for the New York Rd. Runners for 1012 years. And then they change the program a little bit. But I think I touched many people's lives in a way for they they became some people, they come up to me, they say, hey, you were my running coach when I started. And I was like, oh, I didn't know. Or somebody once said, I said to them, hey, how did you recognize me?

You only saw me from the back. And she's like, you know, as a running coach, I always saw you with your ponytail. So I know how you look like from the back, which was pretty. Funny. Or when I one year, I picked up my number for the New York City Marathon and this lady comes, she's like, hey, can I introduce you to my husband? And I was like, do I know you? I mean, then I was like, you cannot be like, do I know you? So I was like, sure, yeah, yeah. So she was one of my students. And obviously she told her husband about me.

But it's. You're touching many people, people's lives. And what I always felt like it was the most cool. The coolest night, the funnest night was when it was raining or snowing or when the elements were not 100% and you saw the die hard runners showing up. So we will be a group of one time. We were more coaches than people. I think we were eight coaches and six people showed up. And then everyone's like I get a personal coach around with tonight And we were in Central Park and there were like those snowflakes were as big as, I don't know, quarter or even bigger. And my friend always says this was the most special, magical moment.

There were no tracks in Central Park and she and I would be running and it was just. Oh yeah. I didn't speak to her. We were just in the moment and enjoying. It was like silver coming down from the sky. And she says that was the best evening ever. And I realized it was. It's magical when when you see the silver snowflakes in Central Park. Oh, it's like a snow globe and like a Christmas movie. It's a mixing. Yeah. I I don't think I've ever run in Central Park in the winter time. I don't think I have how it's magical. But obviously you you want to be in a group when it's dark.

So that was the opportunity to run together. We always would make sure every like we had the coach in the in the front and the coach in the back. And so everybody was safe. Yeah, these were the days. And actually, it's the people in the running group become your friends. And what is also nice is that you put your running shoes on your running gear and everybody's the same. You don't know, is this ACEO or is this a teacher or PT or you meet people from all different walks of life. And that's what I truly enjoy because when do you ever meet people at that level?

Never. Yeah, yeah. That's really well said. That's such a good point. Have you done? Yeah, I bet, yeah. What a great way to to practice and, yeah, get to learn the language, certainly. Have you done, I'm assuming you've done some international races in your travels, have you? Not so much. So, as I said, I did the Ottawa Marathon. And that's right. The Canada, they say, hey, come to Canada. It's 55°. It's most scenic race in Canada. We're like, all right, we signed up, but the start was at 7:00 in the morning. I remember clearly it was 72°. So much for a cold marathon. It was super hot and I was going for a 8 minutes marathon like planning for 3/30.

And I'm like, I can do this and this weather. And obviously you need to, you need to have Plan B or C. So I always say you need to have three plans. One is the PR, the best case and then one is like, what time are you OK with? And the third time is like just finish. And as I said before, mile 13 or kilometer 13 was OK, kilometer 26 was OK. But then 2728, that was very hard on me. And then I said to myself, you know what, I know I will not reach the PRI, will not go to Boston that year. Let me wait for my friend.

And I knew he had the red shirt on. And then all of a sudden, everybody had their red shirt on. I was like, where is my friend? I don't see him. And then I was like, OK, I'm alone again. You, you look for your person and you don't see them. And mentally it's hard. And then on the last, I don't know, the 5K, there was a guy running next to me barefoot and I said, how can you run barefoot? Well, I had so many blisters, I had to take off my shoes. OK, So it was super hot, scenic. I don't know because at one point I was focusing on finishing.

I didn't see so much anymore. And I think I was still on the four hours, but a very difficult race for, for the kilometer, the temperature and then not seeing my friend. And then one year a friend of mine said, let's go to Rio de Janeiro. And I'm like, sure, I love travelling. And then I was working with a guy from Rio de Janeiro and he says don't do it for time, but do it for beauty. And I was like, what does he mean? It's a race? Do it for time, do it for beauty. And when he arrived there, oh, it's. So beautiful. They had a full marathon and a half marathon, so I did the half and they were just putting up the start line.

We're like, they're starting on time, the American way or Swiss way, starting on time, whatever, let's just go. So we did it and then all of a sudden we come to the Copacabana, the most famous, and I'm like, now I understand what he meant. Do it for beauty. I was so beautiful. I was like, the time doesn't really matter. I finished. I mean, I don't remember what time I finished. It was fantastic. It was warm and I think there were people and for the homeless people who took our waters and there was not enough water. But I mean, you forget about that. It was just, it was a very nice time.

And then actually at the end, we met by coincidence, two people from New York and one gentleman. He says, I got to go back to New York tonight or whatever. And I said to him, you cannot go back from Rio. And you've never seen Cristo or, you know, the statue. And to this day when I see him, he says, thank you so much. You pushed me and I went to see Cristo. This was so beautiful. So you you bond together and you give each other good tips. And it was. It was a lot of fun there. Yeah, I oh, so you're going to be like, Ali, I can't believe you did this, but I've been to Rio and I've, I did not see Cristo there.

I know. I, so I was there for work and I was, I traveled alone, but I had somebody there who would like, came and got me at the airport, like made sure I was like got to my hotel safe and, and I did get a chance to run on the, on Copacabana. I had, I remember I had my iPod and that's all I brought. I was really worried about, you know, I was like, well, if somebody wants my iPod, they can take it, but hopefully that's all they want. But it's such a beautiful place. I went to the top of Sugarloaf. I forget how you say that in Portuguese, but but yeah, we didn't.

I didn't have time to go to see Cristo and so I now I have to go back. So I have to go back. I love Brazil, I the people there. I would love to do a race. That would be really cool, especially now that they've had the Olympics there would probably be pretty cool to to visit, yeah. Yeah, it's special. It's it's really spent. It was. And if you think of like we do races, does it matter? I know I will not win the race unless nobody shows up. I always say that. So it doesn't really to me. It doesn't really matter if I have two minutes more or I know I have a friend and he's a 530 minute mile runner, a fantastic person.

And he always says he didn't push hard enough. And I'm like, I know, but I'm not you. You're the 1st in your age group. You can. And he has one racist. For me, it's it's also the pleasure of travelling, of experiencing other cultures and other food and the view. So it's it's for the beauty. We do that. Yeah, one of my favorite things to say, it says it on my mug says no one cares from I don't know if you've follow Laura Mcgreen, she's like a running influencer. She's also a comedian and she's really funny. But yeah, this is one of her mantras as well.

But it's just become a life mantra of mine to be like, not only does nobody care what you're doing in life, like you can do whatever you want. Or, you know, also applies to running, that like, nobody cares about your finish time. Like nobody, unless you're a professional athlete, your sponsors will care. But you know, for us, yeah, it's. So it's just such a good reminder to just do it for beauty or do it for just some other reason other than. And I like racing too, just for myself, but I was. Once at after my masters, I took a class in social emotional intelligence with a Canadian professor and I said, he says, what do you do?

And I was like, I'm, I'm a marathon runner. I just finished, must have been December, January when I took that class. So he said to me, did you win the marathon? And she was this. And I have to say, he was this choppy guy from Canada. Taking this social emotional class, right? You think they have some empathy with you? And this really bugged me. And then in the break, I went up to him and I said to him, you know, I might not have won the New York City Marathon, but there were 30,000 people behind me still finishing when I finished. And then he was like, silent.

But I think, I mean, we see all those cute funny videos like, oh, I just ran a marathon and everybody's like, hey, shut up. We don't need to hear your marathon story anymore. But running a marathon is huge. You put in the training, Hopefully you put in the training. It's a three months commitment. So. And I, I like, I love my friends. And they say, oh, there is a marathon in San Paulo. Why don't you come and run? I'm like, yeah, but I'm not trained now. Yeah, but you can come and I'm like, yeah, but you don't understand. It's not the race in itself, it's the preparation to watch that race.

So could I run a marathon tomorrow? I could, but should I do one? No, because I'm not trained. I think it's people just watch the videos and they see the two hour 10 or the under 2 hour runners. But what do they do? They train every single day. They train every single day. I follow Daniel Arif, she's one of the top Ironman women. She's injured at the moment and it's hard. There's such a fine line and we also know we have injuries and then you're all out for 4-5, six weeks. It's tough. Yeah, oh so tough. I want to ask about your Ted, Ted X speaking.

I don't. So I've definitely watched, at least on YouTube, not in. I've never had the privilege of being to a Ted X event in person. I know. So if you could tell listeners who may not know about that world, like what is it and how did you achieve that? How did you end up there? Yeah. So the Ted X is a talk which is probably 20 minutes and less, and some of them are even 10 minutes and less. And it's about technology, entertainment. What is the design maybe so that these are the tedx.org and then the Ted. So this is a Ted, this is the big organization.

Then the Ted X are independent Ted talk. So any university can have one or I think there's multiple avenues that people can have a Ted Talk or you need to, I think you need to get a license in order to organize a Ted X event. So that's a technicality. And I actually have been at three Ted X4, including the one I spoke. And to the listeners, if you ever can go, you have to go. The energy that you have there, the knowledge that you can get there, the learning, it's just so inspirational. I mean, I've met the lady who is a para Olympian and she's going to Paris this year.

I have a picture with her. She told her story how she ended up in the wheelchair. Now she has even a daughter. Fantastic. Or you just you just feel like you can touch those people. And obviously you can also talk to the people if if it's a smaller Ted X event, I went to Columbia University and I knew one person who would be speaking there and I knew she would be the first person. So I was like, do I really want to be there? I'm so glad I pushed myself to be there for her and just taking in all the energy. And it's a lot of preparation.

You cannot say like, Hey, buy my product or I've written a book. So there's some rules that you also have to go by. But people say like think of the target audience that you want to cater your speech to. So I talk about the five kilometre race for success and in my book, now I can mention it in my book from the Iron Woman, I created a five step. So actually steps S is for strategy team and training is for evaluation, peace or planning or I use and pacing in my Ted talk and then S is for success. So I had pictures of every mile or every kilometre.

I have to say now that you run, like, what stage are you in? And you can transfer that into the business life or your professional life. And I say, like, even if you work on a huge project, if you break it down into smaller steps, again, it's one step at a time, one day at a time. If you have a huge project, you like, I don't know where to start, somebody helps me. But let's say we have a whole year, so we have 365 days, Put it down into four weeks, six weeks. What can I achieve? And then everybody's like, oh, this is so easy.

Yeah, but you need to have that strategy in place to get you there. And then when I talk about the T, obviously it's a team in training, so get people who can help you. The E is for evaluation and it's kind of like thinking of like, am I on the right track? And it's about when you train for a marathon, you should have a plan preferably. So you evaluate is this the right way or oh, oops, I'm injured, I need to do weight training, I need to do yoga, I need to change something with my nutrition. So that's kind of like the I need to scale back or what do I need to do?

And then P is sort of planning again. Now you have to plan. You can go full speed ahead and then the success is at the end. But in a way somebody once said like, ah, that's success. This doesn't make sense. But if you look at the tennis players with the top one, the top ranking, it's not so easy to stay successful. And you have a lot of people who don't like you anymore. It's it's at the very high level that you have to perform. It goes to show with any race like, or if you're in a marathon, like how did I do the 4 * 342?

I don't know. But it's like you have to work on that success all the time, all the time, all the time. And now how to get into a TEDx. I would recommend if you, let's say if you're in New York, it's hard to get in into a TEDx because you have to send in the video. There's like, I think there's like the, it's almost like a recruitment process. So it's better to go to a smaller place. Maybe you go to a smaller university where they offer or where they know you. So that's, that's, I think that's a trick how to get into it. And I think I was lucky.

I mean, I don't want to say luck, but I researched and I was like, I saw there was a Ted X talk in May and I sent them a message in January. Hey, I would be interested. Are you looking for speakers? I didn't hear back. I was like, oh, I never hear back in March, I got an e-mail like, oh, we're looking for speakers. Can you, what is your topic? And I was like, no, I have to perform. So it was and there was a nice teacher actually who was coaching us a little bit like, what do you want to talk about? What is your call to action?

So it's it's also steps that you have to go through. And then it's obviously you and I, we can talk forever. But if you are on that red circle on that red carpet, it's something different. It's something magical. And you, you know, you have that one chance. This is your chance. Everybody's looking at you. It will be recorded. It's not like a podcast or you can edit. No, there's no editing. It's it's a, it's A to me, it was like, wow. And how I prepared myself. I was basically saying that my Ted talk out loud, I don't know, three or four times a day I was walking around in Central Park and I'm like, welcome to my talk.

And I didn't bring my cards with me. And sometimes I'll be like, I don't know, I don't know what I have to say. What is what is going to happen when I'm on that stage and I forget. But I think I was so well prepared. It's almost like you're so well prepared for the marathon. In the marathon, the weather can have an impact or you're whatever you eat before. But I think if you plan well, if you prepare well, nothing can go wrong. And the teacher said, you know, whatever is happening outside there, nobody knows what you really want to say. You know your stuff, you know what you want to talk about.

You have rehearsed it many times and he checked in with me multiple times. So it felt like this is not the time to shine. And yeah, it was actually enjoyable. And I was able to look around and look at the people and look into their eyes. And yeah, it's it's a very, very proud moment, I have to say. And then I got this. Ted X. Yeah, it's so cool. They printed it out in the 3D 3D printer. It's it's really something special. This is mine and in the Ted Talk I say if you have done it, it's not bragging. So I actually brought my Iron Man.

I did watch it so. Yeah, see, you saw it and I, I took it out. It was like a little surprise for everybody. Nobody can take this away. It's I did it. So it's a real proud moment. When you do a Ted talk, is that the only time you do it? If you've done one, you don't really. You can't do that same talk again or how does that work? I don't know, I mean, I think it's yeah, it's a one time only. I mean, I would love to to give another one and with a different topic. Yeah, I think it's one time only. I mean it's recorded and it's on YouTube.

It's on the Ted X website so you can find it. I think it's it's a one time only. Yeah, that's so interesting. Well, congratulations on having that. That's that's really cool. I only relate slightly. I was on live television locally for my, my business and I remember I would walk around and all, I mean, it was going to be 4 minutes Max. And so I would just walk around and I would just, I knew kind of what they're going to ask. And so I would just rehearse in a way where I was hoping I wouldn't come off as sounding like I memorized and rehearse, but so that I was more comfortable and just knew what I was going to say.

I tend to be, I'm, I'm very terrified of public speaking. Like I literally will take Benadryl so I don't break out in hives. Terrified. Not kidding, but I feel more comfortable if I'm prepared, yeah. So yeah. The television is the next step, right So. Well, that's so scary. I was like, oh gosh, I had to say yes though, because they gave me an opportunity. So it's like, OK, have to say yes. And I think, like, obviously I would not want to be on Shark Tank because that would be terrifying. But if you prepare yourself like Shark Tank, like, what questions could they ask? Like send me the questions ahead of time.

You can rehearse and even if you pitch something, I mean, people ask me what is tickets from the iron woman? You know your story, you know, like where did everything start? What were what were pivotal moments or have a story ready. I as a coach, I always tell people it's that prepared spontaneity. So you. Can I like? That sounding as if we just not reversed it. Oh, this sounds so fantastic. Tell me more about this. And you're like, oh, thank you for sharing. I mean, if you watch TV, it seems like it's all canned, right? So they prepare it. I think we shouldn't be so afraid.

I mean, if I have an opportunity to be on TVI go, I have to go. Yeah, I know. You have to go. Yeah. Prepared spontaneity. I really like that phrase. I, I know I don't have a ton more time with you, but I did want to make sure since it's the month of May. And I saw one of your recent blogs from this month about mental health. And I just wanted to ask what that means to you and how you do, how you have your mental health like routine, like kind of the tips and tricks that work for you to kind of keep yourself mentally healthy.

Yeah, I think that the running is one thing, but the running is also keeping you mentally healthy because you need to focus when you run, you need to be prepared when you run and you need to also be prepared on the surface or on the weather, unfortunately. And don't try that at home, as they say. I once was invited to an event, I think something with scarf and beautiful and women event. I was like, I want to go, I want to go, I want to go. So I had like one hour in between before I had to leave. And it was a rainy day and I was tired.

So I went for my run and I was like, ah, this is kind of cool. But I was already at this event. I was like, OK, I need to take a shower, do the hair makeup, what do I wear? No, that doesn't fit. No, no, no. And then on the last 200 yards of my run, I fell and I fell on the cobblestone and I was bleeding and I had to go to the emergency room. So don't try to do that. So. If. You're stressed and you go from, and obviously after the pandemic, everybody is on Zoom and everything, so maybe you're a little safer.

But if you try to multitask and go from one thing to the next to the next to the next, you can burn out, you can fall. And then as a consequence, I could not go to this event. So I was at the emergency room. I went to a center and they say I think you need stitches. And then I had to go to the emergency room. It was Thursday at 8:00 in the evening. It was fairly quiet. And what was interesting. So I'm laying there and I'm like, OK, people, can you come? I'm tired. I want to go home and the doctor comes in and he's like, what happened to you?

And he's like, I was fell running. I need stitches. OK. And then another doctor comes in, another doctor and he's like, people, can you maybe I need to go. I'm tired. So then there's another doctor coming in and and and he started to talk and I think he was actually happy to see like a normal person what happened to his like I'm a runner. And then he said, are you running tomorrow again? And I look at him, I'm like, well, I'm not training for the marathon so I don't have to run. But if I was training for a marathon, I probably would have to run.

And he says, I think you people are crazy. And I said to him, and you know, I did the Ironman. He's like, what are you crazy? So then obviously he was happy to talk to a sports person or a crazy person. I think that's what I want to when it comes to that mental health awareness. So be nice to yourself. And we all know we have a job. Running is our hobby with a big age. We we try to do our best. It should be fun. And don't be so hard on yourself and add that fun into it. Like earlier I said the EPL 3.

So it's about that playing and yeah, have some fun. As we said, we go travelling and we do a race or we do the mount, mount, Mount Everest, no mount. We do it with a friend. We have fun together. So I think that mental health comes in where we need to be honest with ourselves and we're not machines. If you're tired, especially the sleep is a non negotiable for me. I cannot do all nighters. You don't want to be around me when I don't sleep because I don't function. I I laugh the whole time. This does not work. And also the healthy diet is, is the most important.

What food works for you? Anything can be whatever works for you and all the times as even as a coach, as a running coach, I say it has to work for you. If you look at all those influencers, yeah, they might have a person to help them with the makeup and the outfits and everything. I am not. I would love to be an influencer, but I would like to be the true influencer and say, look, these are days when not everything is working fine, but I have to be fine. And we know that meditation is fantastic. Love to have that 20 minutes for myself. Whatever you do, say still you can read in the book or listen to some music, do some stretching, take that 20 minutes.

But if I have to start to work at 6:30 or 6:00, I don't have that luxury. So then I need to compensate that in the afternoon, maybe I take a nap or I have a nice cup of tea or cup of coffee. I reward myself. It's the we compare ourselves to other people, which is not healthy. And the burnout, I feel for everybody who tells me, like, I was close to burnout. That's a migraine. Look at what you're doing to yourself and especially young people. You have another 20-30 years ahead of you to work. Is it sustainable? Is it sustainable? And you're not? Some of the listeners might be brain surgeons.

They're like, yeah, but we save lives. I don't save lives. I'm a coach. I can help you to get healthy and have a healthy mindset. But what is the worst that can happen if you miss a deadline? If you miss a deadline, nothing is happening. If you send out your mark. Maybe if somebody runs the Boston Marathon, they need to have it on that day. So it's important. But if it arrives 2 days later, it's still OK. It's a mug. It's something that's an intention, it's something that you a gift to another person. So I think we have to be realistic and smart. Don't work harder, but work smarter.

Yeah, such good advice. All right, do you have time for the end of the podcast questions? There's two of them. Excellent. OK, so first is what is your favorite running song or mantra or both? I don't have a song because I never run with music. At one time I had tried it and I was like, I hate it. Probably didn't have the best playlist, but I like to listen to my breathing. This is my song. I listen to my breathing and the mantra is, I think it's a positive affirmations like I can do this. I want to finish. I want to finish strong. I don't have a mantra per Southeast.

But it's when you have those negative thoughts coming into your mind and head, just say like, OK, stay out, stay out. I don't need you now. Thank you for coming. Or what I also say is like, hey, I know you're my roommate in my head, but I pay the rent. So that's a good one too. Oh, that's so good. And then last question will be, what is your next finish line or milestone? My book, it's not a running event, but my book should be out in September. So I'm working very, very hard and I have readers who are excited to read the book and then the editor and the cover.

So it's, it's a marathon in itself and I need the running actually to get me through this. So it's a, it's a, it's not a Sprint. It's a long distance race with that book. And then the writing is one thing where I take 50 stories out of my podcast into a book, but then the marketing and the speaking is the next chapter or the next race that I have to plan. So we'll see. Well, I'm excited to help support you on that. Where is the best place for people to connect with you? I love to connect with people on Facebook, on Instagram. So Instagram there is actually a take it from the Iron Woman handle or the website is Suzanne Mueller dot biz for business.

OK. And on LinkedIn I'm also there. Perfect. Well, thank you so much and thank you to everybody who's listened. Happy running. Happy running, thank you for having me for. So much, of course.

Ally Brettnacher