August 25, 2025 • 28 mins
Keira D’Amato didn’t go pro in her twenties—she did it at 36. After nearly a decade away from competitive running, this mom of two and full-time realtor returned to the sport not for medals, but for joy. And joy led to national titles and shattered American records. In this conversation, Keira teaches us about quitting, restarting, and what happens when you stop chasing accolades and start chasing happiness instead.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Today on the bright side, I'm talking with Marathon or
Kira Dematto about those moments when life unravels, when everything
you've worked so hard for crumbles beneath you, and how
to find the strength to start again.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
It was so surprising to me when I look back
at everything. The thing that I was most proud of
was that ninety second run. Like it wasn't the days
that I crushed a twenty five mile, or it wasn't
when I'd broken American record or won a national championship.
The thing that I was most proud of was that
I gave myself a chance to go on this journey.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
I'm simone voice, and this is the bright side from
Hello Sunshine. What can you accomplish in ninety seconds. It's
not a lot of time to get anything done in
a meaningful way, But what if that's all the time
you had to reconnect with yourself amid the business and
pressures of life. In ninety seconds, you could find a
(00:58):
quiet spot and have a mind full, meditative moment. Connect
with a friend you've been thinking about by sending a
catch up text or a photo that jogs a certain memory.
Tidy your desk to help quiet and overwhelmed mental load,
(01:22):
or strap on your sneakers and jog down the street
to get your heart pumping. What if giving yourself that
ninety seconds to do something just for you, whether it's
creating mental space or reconnecting with something you once loved.
What if that ninety seconds could change your life?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I felt pressure, there was no joy in it for me,
and I was exhausted from fighting this battle that I
wasn't making any progress on. And then finally I like
was like, what would happen if I quit and I stopped.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
This Today on the bright side, we're exploring what happens
when we choose joy instead of metrics. Let's get into
it with Kira Dematto. Welcome to the bright side, Kia.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, I'm happy to be on the bright side. I
like being on the bright side.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Well, you've got bright energy, so I think it's a
perfect match. Kira. You began running competitively again after an
injury and this seven year hiatus, and then you run
a record breaking race at thirty seven years old, long
after most runners retire, or at least they've retired that
dream of breaking a record at that point, and yet
(02:34):
your book is called Don't call It a comeback. So
would you share a little bit about your perspective here
and why you don't view your story as a comeback.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
That's such a good question, and I think so. I
started running again after I had my daughter. I had
her in twenty sixteen, and whenever I was cleared to
run postpartum, like, I went out to go for a
little run. For me, I was nowhere near the athlete
that I was in college or post Collegiately, I couldn't
even compare myself to her. But now I was this
(03:05):
mother with two young kids, and I was overweight. I
was in a tough spot mentally, Like. There were a
lot of reasons why I went out for the run,
but none of it had to do with how fast
I could go. And so I set out the first
day and tried to run three minutes and thinking that,
you know, I'd say three minutes and it would probably
(03:25):
turn into five or to ten or to twenty. But
I was just like, three minutes will get me out
the door. That seemed achievable. And I went out and
I made it ninety seconds, and that was as far
as I could go. That took everything I had, and
I stopped. I cried and I walked home, and the
next day I was like so sore, I couldn't do anything.
But I tried again two days later, and eventually I
(03:46):
made it to the three minutes. And then it was
a question like, well, what else can I do? Or
if I can run three minutes, can I run five minutes?
Can I run three minutes and then walk for a
minute and then run another three minutes? So it started
this beautiful journey for me that is about everything but
how fast I could go. I was setting out to
put running in my life, for movement, to do something
(04:09):
for myself, to have a little space for mental and
physical wellness, for community, to feel part of something, to
connect with other runners. So there was like this infinite
reason of why I started running, and none of it
was for a comeback. But I kept saying, like, after
I'd achieved something else, I'd run five minutes and then ten,
And then eventually the goals got bigger and bigger. Can
(04:29):
I run a whole five k? Can I run a
whole ten miles without walking? And I found myself in
this position where then I was breaking American records and
a sponsored Nike mom and that wasn't where I was
setting out to go. So I guess that's what it
means to me. This wasn't comeback. This was me discovering
(04:50):
a new love for running and just a really beautiful
outcome of prioritizing happiness. And then the success was kind
of like the cherry on the top.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
I guess it's amazing that you've gotten this second act
with running, because sometimes when we attach so much of
ourselves and put so much pressure on ourselves with a
certain skill or vocation, it can kind of suck the
joy out of it almost and it can suck the
life out of it. But then at some point you
reach this turning point and you're able to chase the
(05:18):
happiness and running again. So take me into that moment
when you finally stopped chasing the accolades and the personal
bests and just started chasing joy. What was that turning point?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, you know, like I think printing it back in
my life. And then I started to do it more
and more, and I was picking goals that mattered to me,
not to anyone else, not to the running world. And
what was really hard for me then, is I A
couple of years after that, I ran a marathon and
I ran two forty seven, which was two minutes off
the Olympic Trials qualifying standard, And that was a big
(05:55):
turning point for me because it was do I go
for it? And running had become my joy just the
life is a chaotic mom and everything going on, like
running was my thing, and I was so worried to
intentionally go for it because I was worried I would
lose everything that it meant to me at the time
and I couldn't lose that. And so that was like,
(06:16):
I don't know, maybe six months of my life where
I thought, like can I go for it and keep
it what it is? Can I really go for it
and go for the grind and chase this like Olympic
Trials qualifier? Can I chase that and still have a
lot of fun? So that essentially is like the book
in a nutshells, how I was able to chase these
things and reach these heights and have fun doing it.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
You've shared three major learnings that you gathered between round
one and round two of your running career. If we
were to separate it that way, it's okay to fail,
have the courage to start and chase happiness not success.
I want to narrow in on having the courage to start,
because that can be such a big barrier for so
many people, myself included. And there's this powerful woman in
(06:59):
the book where you describe sobbing on the shower floor
not because you actually broke a record, but because you
just had the courage to start. Where do you get
that courage? What is the first right step?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
So I think for me quitting the sport and walking
away for seven eight nine years, however long I was away,
I lived with I don't even want to say regret,
but a lot of would have, could have, should have,
And I always wondered what could have been if I
would have gone for it, if I would have figured
it out a way through my injury and held on
to that bottom of the rope a little bit longer,
(07:33):
where could I have ended up? So there was always
in the back of my mind watching I became then
a fan of the sport, and I'd watched all the races,
and I always wondered, like, where would I have been
if I would have done it all. So I think
that that in the back of my mind helped a
little bit with the courage to start, because it is
far worse, not starting and living with those question marks
(07:57):
and going for it and falling up short is what
I learned. And so for me, like I think the
courage to start also goes along with failings. Okay, is
because I felt like I failed by quitting and I
was okay, but I wondered what could have been. But
also like I think for me, the biggest thing is
like if you're looking at like Mount Everest and you're
(08:18):
at the bottom looking up, you think, how am I
going to climb? That? There is no way I make
it to the top. But if you take your guys
off the top and look down at your step, it's
really easy to figure out that next step. So I
think for me, focusing on the next step and the
next step and the next step, and all of a
sudden I zoom out and look around and I'm like
a quarter of the way up the mountain. So I
(08:39):
think for me, breaking it down and focusing on those
little baby steps and the progress really helped out a lot.
But it also like, I'm really happy you brought up
like that shower too, because after I broke the American
record in the marathon, and I'd broken a couple other records.
Before that, I'd won some national championships I've you know,
I qualified for, like being part of Team USA. And
(09:00):
after I broke the marathon record, which was held for
twenty years for the woman had it before me, it
was so surprising to me. When I look back at everything,
the thing that I was most proud of was that
ninety second run. Like it wasn't the days that I
crushed a twenty five mile, or it wasn't when I'd
broken American record or won a national championship. The thing
(09:20):
that I was most proud of was that I gave
myself a chance to go on this journey.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
You said something a few minutes ago, though, that I
wanted to ask you about. You said that you viewed
quitting as a failure. Do you still feel that way
about quitting? Is it failure?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
No, it's not. I think there is a time and
place to quit things. And I think that we've always
grown up with the mentality like you don't quit, you
never quit. But I think I've learned through this whole
journey that there are times in life, and there are
times when you're going after things that like you need
to quit and you need to cut your ties and
you need to like refresh and start over and maybe
(09:56):
aim something different or pivot. But I I don't see
that now as a failure, but I felt like a
failure quitting.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I think the hardest part of quitting is knowing when
to quit. How did you know that it was the
right time to quit running the first time?
Speaker 2 (10:13):
So I had an injury that was reoccurring, and it
kept coming back, and I would take six to week
eight weeks off, I'd see a doctor, I would do
all the cross train, I'd get back. I'd run for
another month or two and get the fitness back, and
then that foot would break again. And it turned out
that I needed surgery on my ankle, and it was
not covered by insurance, so I would have had to
(10:34):
pay out a pocket and it was exhausting for me.
I appealed it, and I went to all the other
doctors I probably saw, I mean at least five, maybe
ten different doctors. I even went to like spiritual doctors
that read my auras. And actually it was one of
the spiritual doctors that I kind of like went to
as a hail Mary, and she was looking at my
body and doing all the crystals and watching like, hell, everything,
(10:57):
Like I'm a personally gathers a lot of information. If
you you can't tell. But she like the thing that
came back to her. And I didn't even really tell
her so much what was wrong, but the thing that
came back to her, She's like, you are really stressed.
You're at a crossroads and you need to let go.
Like your body is ready to move on, your mind
is not. And I cried like during it, like it
(11:18):
was a very big release, but I left and I
kind of dismissed it because I wasn't ready to hear
it yet.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Oh wow, So how long after that did you actually
make the move?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Probably like three months. So I kept fighting and I
was cross training and I was holding on and I
was exhausted. And then I actually my uncle is a
doctor and I saw him at Christmas and I was like, hey,
you're a doctor, can you look at my ankle and
tell me? And we went outside the party. He kind
of looked at my ankle and he's like, you know, Kira,
like I think you're ready to move on and see
(11:50):
what else care it can be?
Speaker 1 (11:53):
So you were getting me signed from multiple places.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Well, I was stressed. I felt pressure there was no
joy in it.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
For me.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
It was like it was all these negative emotions that
I attached to running, and I was exhausted from fighting
this battle that I wasn't making any progress on. And
I think that's what people were picking up on. And
then finally I like was like what would happen if
I quit and I stopped this? Like where would I go?
And so I decide in my head, like tonight, I'm
(12:21):
going to go to sleep thinking I'm no longer going
to be an elite runner, Like let's see how I
wake up tomorrow morning. And I woke up and there
was just a whole like I was just released of
all the pressure and like the goals and all like
the unfinished Like I just felt so much lighter releasing that.
And I think that's when I knew that was the
right decision for me at the time.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
It's interesting that you had to phrase it in first
person and just kind of verbalize it or vocalize it.
You had to vocalize it to yourself in order for
it to really feel concrete.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Right right, And then it was interesting because like for me,
I felt like a failure, like I had I'd never
made TMOSA. I never won a national championship, I never
set any records, so there was a lot of like
unfinished business that then I felt like I failed, like
I fell short of all those goals, and I was okay,
And that was such a beautiful lesson to learn, like
(13:16):
I failed and I was okay. So on the other
side of failure, like you'll be okay, and I think
that like has really helped me round two and then
give myself grace that that's okay that you didn't hit that, Like,
let's see what else you can be. So I set
out I call it my halftime show between round one
and round two. But during that halftime show, I discovered,
like who else Kire was. I wasn't just cure the runner.
(13:39):
I was now Cure the runner who didn't run but
did a lot of other really fun things. It was
a really beautiful time to learn how much more than
just a runner I was, which I think has really
helped round two as well.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
More from Kira Dematto after this shortbreak, Well, everything we're
talking about right now reminds me of this quote of yours.
You said, everyone's says we should slow down in our thirties,
that our peak is over. I'm going to prove them wrong.
And you did prove people wrong because you were thirty
seven when you broke the American marathon record. So what
(14:11):
do you want to show other women about milestones in
age and the meaning and weight that we attached to them.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Well, I think as especially like in high school and college.
Actually this is a funny story. So in high school,
when I was a freshman, I was running really well,
and there was a senior girl or a junior girl
on the team that printed out this article that said,
like girls peak their freshman year in high school and
then it's all downhill once they start their cycle. And
she gave it to me. And I don't know if
(14:38):
that was a subtle like diss or whatever, but I
put it up in my locker and I was like,
I'm going to prove this wrong. This isn't true. Like
people crush it in they're like late teens and twenties.
So I feel like I've always had a little bit
of the mentality to stick it to the man. But
I think we're also as a society, especially in female sport.
(14:59):
You compete in college, you go pro, and then you
retire in your late twenties early thirties and then you
start a family and start a career. So for me,
I like flip that all upside down and backwards. And
I think it's taken people like me and other mothers
that are like pushing the limits to show us all
what we're capable of. And I think we're learning how
(15:21):
powerful mothers can be. And so I think that we
haven't supported mothers enough to really see what we can do.
So I think now we're seeing it normalized that mothers
are competing at a really high level. We're seeing the
support not only from like the community and like sponsors,
but we're seeing it in gear. So it's like we're
seeing the support catch up. So we're now seeing what
(15:43):
we all can do, which is just I'm so proud
to be part of this. And I think there's a
number of women that are all pushing it forward in
a number of different sports, and I'm really proud to
be one of them.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Well, you must interact with women like that, women you know,
like the ones that you're describing. How do people respond
to your story when you when you share it with them.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
So in twenty twenty four, there was the Olympic Trials
to make the marathon team and I had a realistic
shot in making the team. During the race, I got
a heat stroke and I dropped out of the race.
So it did not go well. I did not have
my day. I did not make that Olympic team, and
I am down. I'm frustrated. I'm like questioning, like what happened?
Like how am I? How was I not prepared for
(16:23):
this day in these conditions, And I'm walking into like
the Elite athlete tent afterwards to grab my stuff. I'm
kind of my head's down, and usually I'm a really
perky person, high fiving everyone saying good job. But I
was just feeling a little down. And I think there
was five different women that came up to me at
different times and said, like Kira, thank you for giving
me permission to go for this goal. Like because of you,
(16:45):
I found like the courage to start. I have, you know,
two kids, I have three kids, I have one kid,
you know. Or I'm just in my thirties and I
thought sport was over for me at this fashion, And
I'm so appreciative that they told me in that because
I never like I was able to zoom out and
think like I'm winning. You know like, even though that
(17:06):
was one of my worst days ever, I'm so proud
of what I'm doing, like for the sport, and it's
really touching and really humbling to hear, like to hear
that to feel part of someone else's journey is just
really really special.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
I keep coming back to this theme of failure because
it's something that you talk about quite a bit in
your book, and you write that failure is a superpower.
And the way that you share your story and your
failures is with so much vulnerability and humor, which is
honestly so rare to hear people reflect on their failures
in this way. Can you share a time when a
(17:42):
failure taught you something that you just know you couldn't
have learned any other way.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Yeah, So for me in round two, I've rephrased like
the winner lose to win or learn, So either going
to hit my goal or I'm going to learn something
that's going to be another tool in my toolbox that's
like it's now full. It's not full, but there's a
lot of tools in the toolbox because by design, I've
come up short more times than I've hit my goal.
So I think that's something too that we all need
(18:08):
except like, yeah, we're gonna have days that we crush it.
But most days, by design, when you're going for a
big goal, you're not crushing it. And that's okay. You're
learning how to crush it. And there was a race
that I did in Thanksgiving in twenty twenty one, and
it's called the Manchester Road Race. It's in Manchester, Connecticut,
and it's like a three point seven something, you know,
(18:29):
an off distance type of race, and it's super competitive.
Usually like draw some of the best runners like in
the world have race there, and so I was kind
of nervous about that, but I went in thinking, you know,
I think I'm in shape to really compete. And I
ended up that day breaking the course record. But the
only problem was that there was a woman who finished
ahead of me that broke it by She beat me
(18:49):
by like forty five or fifty some seconds, so she
just crushed me. And after that race, I was kind
of upset, you know, that I had this great day
and it didn't matter because ran faster than me. And
I lived in that like frustration for about twenty four hours,
and then finally I learned, like, why is someone else's
good day? Making mine not a good day, Like how
(19:13):
did her good day make mine a bad day? Like
if you had just told me, cure, you're going to
break the course record, I would have been thrilled with that,
But because someone did even better, it like put me
down and I hated feeling that way. I hated that
someone else's good day made like had effect on my
good day. And so it was through that that I learned,
like we can all have good days, and I'm never
going to let someone else's good day make have any
(19:35):
effect on mind being a good or bad day. So
that was like a really important lesson for me. And
just then being able to cheer for people and then
just I don't know, things are out of your control
and you got to kind of let it go. But
I think that was like a really important lesson on
my journey too.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Well, Kira, it seems like you have this healthy relationship
with failure now, but I know you're still competitive. I
know you have to be competitive because you are an
elite athlete. So where are you at with or competitiveness now?
With losing a race now?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Like I want to like acknowledge those feelings and it's
okay to feel let down, or to feel sad, or
feel disappointed, or to.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Feel like you failed.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Like those are all feelings that we all feel, and
you shouldn't just sweep them under the rug pretend like
it doesn't matter they do. So give yourself time to
feel that and then learn from it. So when you're
in that point, it's like, Okay, so how can I
never be here again? Like what can I learn from
that day? To make sure that I've leveled up?
Speaker 1 (20:28):
And humor is a great tool to help all of
us cope with the failures and setbacks of life. You
weave so much humor into your memoir. Is is that
something that you've always had within you or was it
a coping mechanism that you developed along the way?
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Yeah, I think I've always had it, Like I think
just my outlook on life is we can laugh our
way through it, or like what's the alternative?
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Right?
Speaker 2 (20:55):
I mean? And there's times that we can't laugh our
way through things, you know, but for the most part,
like the mundane can you can make it funny? And
it's more fun when the mundane is funny. But when
I was, like in my early twenties, like I'd show
up to practice and I'd be laughing and I'd be joking,
and I do little praying, so I you know, I
have little jokes. And one teammate in particular was really
(21:15):
serious and he was setting all the records, he was winning,
He made the Olympics with just like the fastest runner
in the nation, and he was serious and he was
driven and he was focused. And at the time, I
thought that's what I needed to be if I wanted
to find his level of success. So I thought that
because I was goofy and funny, I thought that maybe
I couldn't be successful. But and now in my round two,
(21:38):
like when I got to that turning point, like do
I go for it? Like I decided then that I'm
gonna go for it, but I'm gonna do it in
my way and it's gonna be funny, and it's gonna
be goofy, and it's gonna be weird and backwards, but
it's gonna be totally Kira. And it's been so cool
to do it and totally my way and find success.
So that's when I learned that, like when you're going
for something, like you need to find your path in
(22:00):
your way that you feel comfortable in we've got to take.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
A short break, but we'll be right back with Kiara Demato.
And we're back with Kiara Dematto. What are you thinking
about when you're running? Is there a script that's playing
over and over in your head, a mantra or is
it just what is it? What's going on up there?
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I think there's some runs that you're just in this
flow state and it's like everything and nothing in your mind,
and you feel like you blink and you've run two
or three miles and you're like, WHOA, how did I
get here? And then there's sometimes like in workouts where
you're trying to be real intentional and you're trying to
focus on the pace and make sure you're hitting what
you need to, you're trying to relax, you're dropping your shoulders.
And I have a lot of mantras during the hard
(22:40):
parts that helped me get through it. And when I started,
it was like a motivational quote, so it was pain
is temporary, PRIDEE Forever. And then it kind of changed
when I was in college to like just being my
own cheerleader. So you got this, like I'm strong, I
got this, I can do hard things. And then lately
It's been more of when it gets to like the
hard part and a workout or a race or run
(23:03):
where your legs are heavy, you want to stop, you
want to quit, You question all of your life decisions
on how you got to this point that you're running
so long. But I've decided instead of like fearing that
and like pumping myself up almost like welcoming it in
as like an invitation and saying, this is where the
magic happens. So how I work through this hard stuff,
which actually really is applicable to life too, Like how
(23:25):
I work through hard stuff is going to turn this
into a like a bad day into a good day,
or a good day into a great day, or a
great day into my best day. Ever, So when I
kind of welcome it in, I'm like, I'm going to
work through this because this is the chance that I
have to prove like what kind of person or what
kind of runner I am?
Speaker 1 (23:42):
This is where the magic happens. I'm stealing that. You
think of goals in three ways, daily wins, a reach goal,
and a big dream. I often get asked, what's your
what's your big dream or what's your your big long
term goal? How do you answer that question. Now.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yeah, for a while, it was to become an Olympian.
That was like my big long term goal. And for me,
like the long term goals are kind of your north star,
like where all of your other like your small your
daily wins, and your like medium goals where they're all
pointing to and those are steps to get there. And
I think right now, like, you know, my American record
in the marathon's been broken, so I want to get
(24:23):
that back. So that's like a big, big dream for me.
And that's what I'm like aiming towards now. That's my
north star to try to get that back. I mean,
it was really fun being the American record holder. It's
like still fun being the former American record.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Holder, but not as fun, not as fun.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I'd like to drop the former and just get back
to being the you know, bee holder.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
I love seeing your competitive side him out. It's so good.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
I can get really competitive. But yeah, so but for me,
it's like those dreams, you know, it's something that can happen.
There is another Olympic year coming up in twenty twenty eight,
so that's still like on my horizon, like can I
make it another build and have an opportunity to attempt
to make that team too. Yeah, I have a lot
of big goals still.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
I want to ask you about the ending of your book,
because you end it with this sense of optimism and
this idea that the best is yet to come. So
as we near the end of our conversation, what are
you chasing now, not as a runner but as cure?
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Yeah, like, I'm still chasing happiness. I think in life,
when you're authentically going after goals that make you happy
and excite you. And that could be personal, it can
be business, it could be family oriented. But I think
when you're going after things that really make you happy,
I think like I've found more success. Like I don't
(25:38):
know at the beginning of this journey if you would
asked me to write your biggest goals you ever can
think of, and running like I wouldn't have. I've surpassed
everything I could have ever dreamed of. But I think
that was because I was chasing happiness the whole time,
and I was doing things that authentically made me happy,
and that got me excited to get up in the
morning and work hard for you know, that made me
want to go to bed early so I could get
(25:58):
up earlier, you know. So it's like things that like
really like seeped into the rest of your life. Like
that makes me so happy chasing things like that and
just finding out that what if.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Well, you dedicate this chapter in your books to celebrating
wins and acknowledging the little bits of progress that we
see every day, which is a perfect way to end
this conversation because we have a signature segment that we
like to call moment to Shine. So I want to
ask you what are you celebrating right now?
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Oh? Man, So I've had a rough year. I've had
a really rough year, and.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Girl me too. I feel so good to hear somebody
else say that, like nothing turned out how I thought
it was going to. But please go on, dido diddo.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
But like kind of like we were talking, like this
is where the magic happens. Like I work through it
and I'm now starting to see the other side of that,
And I'm so proud of myself for just being patient
with myself, showing myself grace, continuing to work through these things.
I'm still like having the best is yet to come
through that, but I'm now seeing like the patience and
(27:06):
the grace and the hard work and just the grind
like payoff through running and in life. And so I'm
in like a really good spot right now. But I'm
just so I'm proud that, yeah, I've worked through it
in a way that I'm proud of myself.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
It's just as simple as that, as just maintaining that
belief that the best is yet to come. Kia, Thank
you so much.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Thank you so much for having me. This is so fun,
and I just so appreciate your vibes and your energy
and what you put onto the world is just so incredible,
and I'm so appreciative for you and what you do
and how you inspire others to look on the bright side.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Thank you so much, Kiro. Kira's motto is a record
breaking All American runner. Her debut book, Don't Call It
a Comeback. What Happened When I Stopped Chasing Prs and
started Chasing Happiness goes on sale September ninth. The bright
Side is a production of Hello, Sunshine and iHeart Podcasts
and is executive produced by Reese Witherspoon and me Simone Boyce.
(28:04):
Production is by a Cast Creative Studios. Our producers are
Taylor Williamson, Adrian Bain, Abby Delk, and Darby Masters. Our
production assistant is Joya putnoy Acasts. Executive producers are Jenny
Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Maureen Polo and Reese Witherspoon are
the executive producers for Hello Sunshine. Ali Perry and Lauren
(28:25):
Hansen are the executive producers for iHeart Podcasts. Tim Palazola
is our showrunner. Our theme song is by Anna Stump
and Hamilton Lighthouser
Today on the bright side, I'm talking with Marathon or
Kira Dematto about those moments when life unravels, when everything
you've worked so hard for crumbles beneath you, and how
to find the strength to start again.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
It was so surprising to me when I look back
at everything. The thing that I was most proud of
was that ninety second run. Like it wasn't the days
that I crushed a twenty five mile, or it wasn't
when I'd broken American record or won a national championship.
The thing that I was most proud of was that
I gave myself a chance to go on this journey.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
I'm simone voice, and this is the bright side from
Hello Sunshine. What can you accomplish in ninety seconds. It's
not a lot of time to get anything done in
a meaningful way, But what if that's all the time
you had to reconnect with yourself amid the business and
pressures of life. In ninety seconds, you could find a
(00:58):
quiet spot and have a mind full, meditative moment. Connect
with a friend you've been thinking about by sending a
catch up text or a photo that jogs a certain memory.
Tidy your desk to help quiet and overwhelmed mental load,
(01:22):
or strap on your sneakers and jog down the street
to get your heart pumping. What if giving yourself that
ninety seconds to do something just for you, whether it's
creating mental space or reconnecting with something you once loved.
What if that ninety seconds could change your life?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I felt pressure, there was no joy in it for me,
and I was exhausted from fighting this battle that I
wasn't making any progress on. And then finally I like
was like, what would happen if I quit and I stopped.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
This Today on the bright side, we're exploring what happens
when we choose joy instead of metrics. Let's get into
it with Kira Dematto. Welcome to the bright side, Kia.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, I'm happy to be on the bright side. I
like being on the bright side.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Well, you've got bright energy, so I think it's a
perfect match. Kira. You began running competitively again after an
injury and this seven year hiatus, and then you run
a record breaking race at thirty seven years old, long
after most runners retire, or at least they've retired that
dream of breaking a record at that point, and yet
(02:34):
your book is called Don't call It a comeback. So
would you share a little bit about your perspective here
and why you don't view your story as a comeback.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
That's such a good question, and I think so. I
started running again after I had my daughter. I had
her in twenty sixteen, and whenever I was cleared to
run postpartum, like, I went out to go for a
little run. For me, I was nowhere near the athlete
that I was in college or post Collegiately, I couldn't
even compare myself to her. But now I was this
(03:05):
mother with two young kids, and I was overweight. I
was in a tough spot mentally, Like. There were a
lot of reasons why I went out for the run,
but none of it had to do with how fast
I could go. And so I set out the first
day and tried to run three minutes and thinking that,
you know, I'd say three minutes and it would probably
(03:25):
turn into five or to ten or to twenty. But
I was just like, three minutes will get me out
the door. That seemed achievable. And I went out and
I made it ninety seconds, and that was as far
as I could go. That took everything I had, and
I stopped. I cried and I walked home, and the
next day I was like so sore, I couldn't do anything.
But I tried again two days later, and eventually I
(03:46):
made it to the three minutes. And then it was
a question like, well, what else can I do? Or
if I can run three minutes, can I run five minutes?
Can I run three minutes and then walk for a
minute and then run another three minutes? So it started
this beautiful journey for me that is about everything but
how fast I could go. I was setting out to
put running in my life, for movement, to do something
(04:09):
for myself, to have a little space for mental and
physical wellness, for community, to feel part of something, to
connect with other runners. So there was like this infinite
reason of why I started running, and none of it
was for a comeback. But I kept saying, like, after
I'd achieved something else, I'd run five minutes and then ten,
And then eventually the goals got bigger and bigger. Can
(04:29):
I run a whole five k? Can I run a
whole ten miles without walking? And I found myself in
this position where then I was breaking American records and
a sponsored Nike mom and that wasn't where I was
setting out to go. So I guess that's what it
means to me. This wasn't comeback. This was me discovering
(04:50):
a new love for running and just a really beautiful
outcome of prioritizing happiness. And then the success was kind
of like the cherry on the top.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
I guess it's amazing that you've gotten this second act
with running, because sometimes when we attach so much of
ourselves and put so much pressure on ourselves with a
certain skill or vocation, it can kind of suck the
joy out of it almost and it can suck the
life out of it. But then at some point you
reach this turning point and you're able to chase the
(05:18):
happiness and running again. So take me into that moment
when you finally stopped chasing the accolades and the personal
bests and just started chasing joy. What was that turning point?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, you know, like I think printing it back in
my life. And then I started to do it more
and more, and I was picking goals that mattered to me,
not to anyone else, not to the running world. And
what was really hard for me then, is I A
couple of years after that, I ran a marathon and
I ran two forty seven, which was two minutes off
the Olympic Trials qualifying standard, And that was a big
(05:55):
turning point for me because it was do I go
for it? And running had become my joy just the
life is a chaotic mom and everything going on, like
running was my thing, and I was so worried to
intentionally go for it because I was worried I would
lose everything that it meant to me at the time
and I couldn't lose that. And so that was like,
(06:16):
I don't know, maybe six months of my life where
I thought, like can I go for it and keep
it what it is? Can I really go for it
and go for the grind and chase this like Olympic
Trials qualifier? Can I chase that and still have a
lot of fun? So that essentially is like the book
in a nutshells, how I was able to chase these
things and reach these heights and have fun doing it.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
You've shared three major learnings that you gathered between round
one and round two of your running career. If we
were to separate it that way, it's okay to fail,
have the courage to start and chase happiness not success.
I want to narrow in on having the courage to start,
because that can be such a big barrier for so
many people, myself included. And there's this powerful woman in
(06:59):
the book where you describe sobbing on the shower floor
not because you actually broke a record, but because you
just had the courage to start. Where do you get
that courage? What is the first right step?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
So I think for me quitting the sport and walking
away for seven eight nine years, however long I was away,
I lived with I don't even want to say regret,
but a lot of would have, could have, should have,
And I always wondered what could have been if I
would have gone for it, if I would have figured
it out a way through my injury and held on
to that bottom of the rope a little bit longer,
(07:33):
where could I have ended up? So there was always
in the back of my mind watching I became then
a fan of the sport, and I'd watched all the races,
and I always wondered, like, where would I have been
if I would have done it all. So I think
that that in the back of my mind helped a
little bit with the courage to start, because it is
far worse, not starting and living with those question marks
(07:57):
and going for it and falling up short is what
I learned. And so for me, like I think the
courage to start also goes along with failings. Okay, is
because I felt like I failed by quitting and I
was okay, but I wondered what could have been. But
also like I think for me, the biggest thing is
like if you're looking at like Mount Everest and you're
(08:18):
at the bottom looking up, you think, how am I
going to climb? That? There is no way I make
it to the top. But if you take your guys
off the top and look down at your step, it's
really easy to figure out that next step. So I
think for me, focusing on the next step and the
next step and the next step, and all of a
sudden I zoom out and look around and I'm like
a quarter of the way up the mountain. So I
(08:39):
think for me, breaking it down and focusing on those
little baby steps and the progress really helped out a lot.
But it also like, I'm really happy you brought up
like that shower too, because after I broke the American
record in the marathon, and I'd broken a couple other records.
Before that, I'd won some national championships I've you know,
I qualified for, like being part of Team USA. And
(09:00):
after I broke the marathon record, which was held for
twenty years for the woman had it before me, it
was so surprising to me. When I look back at everything,
the thing that I was most proud of was that
ninety second run. Like it wasn't the days that I
crushed a twenty five mile, or it wasn't when I'd
broken American record or won a national championship. The thing
(09:20):
that I was most proud of was that I gave
myself a chance to go on this journey.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
You said something a few minutes ago, though, that I
wanted to ask you about. You said that you viewed
quitting as a failure. Do you still feel that way
about quitting? Is it failure?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
No, it's not. I think there is a time and
place to quit things. And I think that we've always
grown up with the mentality like you don't quit, you
never quit. But I think I've learned through this whole
journey that there are times in life, and there are
times when you're going after things that like you need
to quit and you need to cut your ties and
you need to like refresh and start over and maybe
(09:56):
aim something different or pivot. But I I don't see
that now as a failure, but I felt like a
failure quitting.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I think the hardest part of quitting is knowing when
to quit. How did you know that it was the
right time to quit running the first time?
Speaker 2 (10:13):
So I had an injury that was reoccurring, and it
kept coming back, and I would take six to week
eight weeks off, I'd see a doctor, I would do
all the cross train, I'd get back. I'd run for
another month or two and get the fitness back, and
then that foot would break again. And it turned out
that I needed surgery on my ankle, and it was
not covered by insurance, so I would have had to
(10:34):
pay out a pocket and it was exhausting for me.
I appealed it, and I went to all the other
doctors I probably saw, I mean at least five, maybe
ten different doctors. I even went to like spiritual doctors
that read my auras. And actually it was one of
the spiritual doctors that I kind of like went to
as a hail Mary, and she was looking at my
body and doing all the crystals and watching like, hell, everything,
(10:57):
Like I'm a personally gathers a lot of information. If
you you can't tell. But she like the thing that
came back to her. And I didn't even really tell
her so much what was wrong, but the thing that
came back to her, She's like, you are really stressed.
You're at a crossroads and you need to let go.
Like your body is ready to move on, your mind
is not. And I cried like during it, like it
(11:18):
was a very big release, but I left and I
kind of dismissed it because I wasn't ready to hear
it yet.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Oh wow, So how long after that did you actually
make the move?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Probably like three months. So I kept fighting and I
was cross training and I was holding on and I
was exhausted. And then I actually my uncle is a
doctor and I saw him at Christmas and I was like, hey,
you're a doctor, can you look at my ankle and
tell me? And we went outside the party. He kind
of looked at my ankle and he's like, you know, Kira,
like I think you're ready to move on and see
(11:50):
what else care it can be?
Speaker 1 (11:53):
So you were getting me signed from multiple places.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Well, I was stressed. I felt pressure there was no
joy in it.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
For me.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
It was like it was all these negative emotions that
I attached to running, and I was exhausted from fighting
this battle that I wasn't making any progress on. And
I think that's what people were picking up on. And
then finally I like was like what would happen if
I quit and I stopped this? Like where would I go?
And so I decide in my head, like tonight, I'm
(12:21):
going to go to sleep thinking I'm no longer going
to be an elite runner, Like let's see how I
wake up tomorrow morning. And I woke up and there
was just a whole like I was just released of
all the pressure and like the goals and all like
the unfinished Like I just felt so much lighter releasing that.
And I think that's when I knew that was the
right decision for me at the time.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
It's interesting that you had to phrase it in first
person and just kind of verbalize it or vocalize it.
You had to vocalize it to yourself in order for
it to really feel concrete.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Right right, And then it was interesting because like for me,
I felt like a failure, like I had I'd never
made TMOSA. I never won a national championship, I never
set any records, so there was a lot of like
unfinished business that then I felt like I failed, like
I fell short of all those goals, and I was okay,
And that was such a beautiful lesson to learn, like
(13:16):
I failed and I was okay. So on the other
side of failure, like you'll be okay, and I think
that like has really helped me round two and then
give myself grace that that's okay that you didn't hit that, Like,
let's see what else you can be. So I set
out I call it my halftime show between round one
and round two. But during that halftime show, I discovered,
like who else Kire was. I wasn't just cure the runner.
(13:39):
I was now Cure the runner who didn't run but
did a lot of other really fun things. It was
a really beautiful time to learn how much more than
just a runner I was, which I think has really
helped round two as well.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
More from Kira Dematto after this shortbreak, Well, everything we're
talking about right now reminds me of this quote of yours.
You said, everyone's says we should slow down in our thirties,
that our peak is over. I'm going to prove them wrong.
And you did prove people wrong because you were thirty
seven when you broke the American marathon record. So what
(14:11):
do you want to show other women about milestones in
age and the meaning and weight that we attached to them.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Well, I think as especially like in high school and college.
Actually this is a funny story. So in high school,
when I was a freshman, I was running really well,
and there was a senior girl or a junior girl
on the team that printed out this article that said,
like girls peak their freshman year in high school and
then it's all downhill once they start their cycle. And
she gave it to me. And I don't know if
(14:38):
that was a subtle like diss or whatever, but I
put it up in my locker and I was like,
I'm going to prove this wrong. This isn't true. Like
people crush it in they're like late teens and twenties.
So I feel like I've always had a little bit
of the mentality to stick it to the man. But
I think we're also as a society, especially in female sport.
(14:59):
You compete in college, you go pro, and then you
retire in your late twenties early thirties and then you
start a family and start a career. So for me,
I like flip that all upside down and backwards. And
I think it's taken people like me and other mothers
that are like pushing the limits to show us all
what we're capable of. And I think we're learning how
(15:21):
powerful mothers can be. And so I think that we
haven't supported mothers enough to really see what we can do.
So I think now we're seeing it normalized that mothers
are competing at a really high level. We're seeing the
support not only from like the community and like sponsors,
but we're seeing it in gear. So it's like we're
seeing the support catch up. So we're now seeing what
(15:43):
we all can do, which is just I'm so proud
to be part of this. And I think there's a
number of women that are all pushing it forward in
a number of different sports, and I'm really proud to
be one of them.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Well, you must interact with women like that, women you know,
like the ones that you're describing. How do people respond
to your story when you when you share it with them.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
So in twenty twenty four, there was the Olympic Trials
to make the marathon team and I had a realistic
shot in making the team. During the race, I got
a heat stroke and I dropped out of the race.
So it did not go well. I did not have
my day. I did not make that Olympic team, and
I am down. I'm frustrated. I'm like questioning, like what happened?
Like how am I? How was I not prepared for
(16:23):
this day in these conditions, And I'm walking into like
the Elite athlete tent afterwards to grab my stuff. I'm
kind of my head's down, and usually I'm a really
perky person, high fiving everyone saying good job. But I
was just feeling a little down. And I think there
was five different women that came up to me at
different times and said, like Kira, thank you for giving
me permission to go for this goal. Like because of you,
(16:45):
I found like the courage to start. I have, you know,
two kids, I have three kids, I have one kid,
you know. Or I'm just in my thirties and I
thought sport was over for me at this fashion, And
I'm so appreciative that they told me in that because
I never like I was able to zoom out and
think like I'm winning. You know like, even though that
(17:06):
was one of my worst days ever, I'm so proud
of what I'm doing, like for the sport, and it's
really touching and really humbling to hear, like to hear
that to feel part of someone else's journey is just
really really special.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
I keep coming back to this theme of failure because
it's something that you talk about quite a bit in
your book, and you write that failure is a superpower.
And the way that you share your story and your
failures is with so much vulnerability and humor, which is
honestly so rare to hear people reflect on their failures
in this way. Can you share a time when a
(17:42):
failure taught you something that you just know you couldn't
have learned any other way.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Yeah, So for me in round two, I've rephrased like
the winner lose to win or learn, So either going
to hit my goal or I'm going to learn something
that's going to be another tool in my toolbox that's
like it's now full. It's not full, but there's a
lot of tools in the toolbox because by design, I've
come up short more times than I've hit my goal.
So I think that's something too that we all need
(18:08):
except like, yeah, we're gonna have days that we crush it.
But most days, by design, when you're going for a
big goal, you're not crushing it. And that's okay. You're
learning how to crush it. And there was a race
that I did in Thanksgiving in twenty twenty one, and
it's called the Manchester Road Race. It's in Manchester, Connecticut,
and it's like a three point seven something, you know,
(18:29):
an off distance type of race, and it's super competitive.
Usually like draw some of the best runners like in
the world have race there, and so I was kind
of nervous about that, but I went in thinking, you know,
I think I'm in shape to really compete. And I
ended up that day breaking the course record. But the
only problem was that there was a woman who finished
ahead of me that broke it by She beat me
(18:49):
by like forty five or fifty some seconds, so she
just crushed me. And after that race, I was kind
of upset, you know, that I had this great day
and it didn't matter because ran faster than me. And
I lived in that like frustration for about twenty four hours,
and then finally I learned, like, why is someone else's
good day? Making mine not a good day, Like how
(19:13):
did her good day make mine a bad day? Like
if you had just told me, cure, you're going to
break the course record, I would have been thrilled with that,
But because someone did even better, it like put me
down and I hated feeling that way. I hated that
someone else's good day made like had effect on my
good day. And so it was through that that I learned,
like we can all have good days, and I'm never
going to let someone else's good day make have any
(19:35):
effect on mind being a good or bad day. So
that was like a really important lesson for me. And
just then being able to cheer for people and then
just I don't know, things are out of your control
and you got to kind of let it go. But
I think that was like a really important lesson on
my journey too.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Well, Kira, it seems like you have this healthy relationship
with failure now, but I know you're still competitive. I
know you have to be competitive because you are an
elite athlete. So where are you at with or competitiveness now?
With losing a race now?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Like I want to like acknowledge those feelings and it's
okay to feel let down, or to feel sad, or
feel disappointed, or to.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Feel like you failed.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Like those are all feelings that we all feel, and
you shouldn't just sweep them under the rug pretend like
it doesn't matter they do. So give yourself time to
feel that and then learn from it. So when you're
in that point, it's like, Okay, so how can I
never be here again? Like what can I learn from
that day? To make sure that I've leveled up?
Speaker 1 (20:28):
And humor is a great tool to help all of
us cope with the failures and setbacks of life. You
weave so much humor into your memoir. Is is that
something that you've always had within you or was it
a coping mechanism that you developed along the way?
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Yeah, I think I've always had it, Like I think
just my outlook on life is we can laugh our
way through it, or like what's the alternative?
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Right?
Speaker 2 (20:55):
I mean? And there's times that we can't laugh our
way through things, you know, but for the most part,
like the mundane can you can make it funny? And
it's more fun when the mundane is funny. But when
I was, like in my early twenties, like I'd show
up to practice and I'd be laughing and I'd be joking,
and I do little praying, so I you know, I
have little jokes. And one teammate in particular was really
(21:15):
serious and he was setting all the records, he was winning,
He made the Olympics with just like the fastest runner
in the nation, and he was serious and he was
driven and he was focused. And at the time, I
thought that's what I needed to be if I wanted
to find his level of success. So I thought that
because I was goofy and funny, I thought that maybe
I couldn't be successful. But and now in my round two,
(21:38):
like when I got to that turning point, like do
I go for it? Like I decided then that I'm
gonna go for it, but I'm gonna do it in
my way and it's gonna be funny, and it's gonna
be goofy, and it's gonna be weird and backwards, but
it's gonna be totally Kira. And it's been so cool
to do it and totally my way and find success.
So that's when I learned that, like when you're going
for something, like you need to find your path in
(22:00):
your way that you feel comfortable in we've got to take.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
A short break, but we'll be right back with Kiara Demato.
And we're back with Kiara Dematto. What are you thinking
about when you're running? Is there a script that's playing
over and over in your head, a mantra or is
it just what is it? What's going on up there?
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I think there's some runs that you're just in this
flow state and it's like everything and nothing in your mind,
and you feel like you blink and you've run two
or three miles and you're like, WHOA, how did I
get here? And then there's sometimes like in workouts where
you're trying to be real intentional and you're trying to
focus on the pace and make sure you're hitting what
you need to, you're trying to relax, you're dropping your shoulders.
And I have a lot of mantras during the hard
(22:40):
parts that helped me get through it. And when I started,
it was like a motivational quote, so it was pain
is temporary, PRIDEE Forever. And then it kind of changed
when I was in college to like just being my
own cheerleader. So you got this, like I'm strong, I
got this, I can do hard things. And then lately
It's been more of when it gets to like the
hard part and a workout or a race or run
(23:03):
where your legs are heavy, you want to stop, you
want to quit, You question all of your life decisions
on how you got to this point that you're running
so long. But I've decided instead of like fearing that
and like pumping myself up almost like welcoming it in
as like an invitation and saying, this is where the
magic happens. So how I work through this hard stuff,
which actually really is applicable to life too, Like how
(23:25):
I work through hard stuff is going to turn this
into a like a bad day into a good day,
or a good day into a great day, or a
great day into my best day. Ever, So when I
kind of welcome it in, I'm like, I'm going to
work through this because this is the chance that I
have to prove like what kind of person or what
kind of runner I am?
Speaker 1 (23:42):
This is where the magic happens. I'm stealing that. You
think of goals in three ways, daily wins, a reach goal,
and a big dream. I often get asked, what's your
what's your big dream or what's your your big long
term goal? How do you answer that question. Now.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yeah, for a while, it was to become an Olympian.
That was like my big long term goal. And for me,
like the long term goals are kind of your north star,
like where all of your other like your small your
daily wins, and your like medium goals where they're all
pointing to and those are steps to get there. And
I think right now, like, you know, my American record
in the marathon's been broken, so I want to get
(24:23):
that back. So that's like a big, big dream for me.
And that's what I'm like aiming towards now. That's my
north star to try to get that back. I mean,
it was really fun being the American record holder. It's
like still fun being the former American record.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Holder, but not as fun, not as fun.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I'd like to drop the former and just get back
to being the you know, bee holder.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
I love seeing your competitive side him out. It's so good.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
I can get really competitive. But yeah, so but for me,
it's like those dreams, you know, it's something that can happen.
There is another Olympic year coming up in twenty twenty eight,
so that's still like on my horizon, like can I
make it another build and have an opportunity to attempt
to make that team too. Yeah, I have a lot
of big goals still.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
I want to ask you about the ending of your book,
because you end it with this sense of optimism and
this idea that the best is yet to come. So
as we near the end of our conversation, what are
you chasing now, not as a runner but as cure?
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Yeah, like, I'm still chasing happiness. I think in life,
when you're authentically going after goals that make you happy
and excite you. And that could be personal, it can
be business, it could be family oriented. But I think
when you're going after things that really make you happy,
I think like I've found more success. Like I don't
(25:38):
know at the beginning of this journey if you would
asked me to write your biggest goals you ever can
think of, and running like I wouldn't have. I've surpassed
everything I could have ever dreamed of. But I think
that was because I was chasing happiness the whole time,
and I was doing things that authentically made me happy,
and that got me excited to get up in the
morning and work hard for you know, that made me
want to go to bed early so I could get
(25:58):
up earlier, you know. So it's like things that like
really like seeped into the rest of your life. Like
that makes me so happy chasing things like that and
just finding out that what if.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Well, you dedicate this chapter in your books to celebrating
wins and acknowledging the little bits of progress that we
see every day, which is a perfect way to end
this conversation because we have a signature segment that we
like to call moment to Shine. So I want to
ask you what are you celebrating right now?
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Oh? Man, So I've had a rough year. I've had
a really rough year, and.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Girl me too. I feel so good to hear somebody
else say that, like nothing turned out how I thought
it was going to. But please go on, dido diddo.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
But like kind of like we were talking, like this
is where the magic happens. Like I work through it
and I'm now starting to see the other side of that,
And I'm so proud of myself for just being patient
with myself, showing myself grace, continuing to work through these things.
I'm still like having the best is yet to come
through that, but I'm now seeing like the patience and
(27:06):
the grace and the hard work and just the grind
like payoff through running and in life. And so I'm
in like a really good spot right now. But I'm
just so I'm proud that, yeah, I've worked through it
in a way that I'm proud of myself.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
It's just as simple as that, as just maintaining that
belief that the best is yet to come. Kia, Thank
you so much.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Thank you so much for having me. This is so fun,
and I just so appreciate your vibes and your energy
and what you put onto the world is just so incredible,
and I'm so appreciative for you and what you do
and how you inspire others to look on the bright side.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Thank you so much, Kiro. Kira's motto is a record
breaking All American runner. Her debut book, Don't Call It
a Comeback. What Happened When I Stopped Chasing Prs and
started Chasing Happiness goes on sale September ninth. The bright
Side is a production of Hello, Sunshine and iHeart Podcasts
and is executive produced by Reese Witherspoon and me Simone Boyce.
(28:04):
Production is by a Cast Creative Studios. Our producers are
Taylor Williamson, Adrian Bain, Abby Delk, and Darby Masters. Our
production assistant is Joya putnoy Acasts. Executive producers are Jenny
Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Maureen Polo and Reese Witherspoon are
the executive producers for Hello Sunshine. Ali Perry and Lauren
(28:25):
Hansen are the executive producers for iHeart Podcasts. Tim Palazola
is our showrunner. Our theme song is by Anna Stump
and Hamilton Lighthouser
Host
Simone Boyce
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