June 20, 2024 • 33 mins
#115 - Ready to meet an inspiring athlete who turned her life around through sheer determination and a powerful mindset? Kayla Cittadino, host of Taco About It Tuesday podcast, shares her story of transformation—from struggling with weight and a toxic relationship to becoming an elite athlete and a two-time American Ninja Warrior competitor.
This episode is a masterclass in making positive changes and overcoming the mental and physical obstacles that hold us back. Kayla opens up about the pivotal moments that sparked her lifestyle overhaul, starting with small, incremental steps in nutrition and fitness. This conversation is a testament to the transformative power of resilience and the importance of a supportive coach and community.
Topics Covered:
- Learn practical tips for making positive changes and overcoming mental and physical obstacles
- Understand why a champion mindset is necessary to conquer fear, set personal goals, and build a positive relationship with yourself
- Discover insights on how self-talk and visual affirmations can keep you motivated and moving toward your goal
Today’s Guest
Kayla Cittadino
Kayla turned her life around in 2018 after making the decision to return to a healthier lifestyle. What started off as a 75lbs weight loss journey turned into becoming a 2x American Ninja Warrior, Spartan OCR Athlete, a DEKA World Championship Competitor and Podcast Host of her mindset based podcast Taco About It Tuesday.
Follow Kayla:
- Instagram - @kaylacittadino
- Podcast - Taco About It Tuesday
Resources:
- Inspire to Run on Instagram - @inspiretorunpodcast
- Free Guide - Kickstart your Fitness in 5 Steps
- 8 Week Fitness Coaching Program with Underdog Fitness
- Sign-up using code INSPIRE10 for 10% off
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Join the Inspire to Run community:
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For more information, visit Inspire to Run.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, my friend, do you feel stuck sometimes and
feel it's too difficult to makea change in your life?
Or maybe it's about getting tothe next level in your fitness,
even if it feels out of reach?
Well, this week you are in fora real treat.
I'm sitting down with anincredible athlete and we share
stories and insights that youcan apply to help you get to the
next level.
(00:20):
Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Welcome to Inspired to Run podcast.
Here you will find inspiration,whether you are looking to take
control of your health andfitness or you are a seasoned
runner looking for community andsome extra motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host, richardConnor.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Hi, my friend, Welcome to Inspire to Run
Podcast.
I have the pleasure of sittingdown today with Kayla Cittadino.
She is the host of Talk Aboutit Tuesday.
She is an elite runner,aspiring elite runner for DECA,
and I'm just so excited to havethis conversation with her.
She's part of the underdogfamily, she's one of the podium
chasers and we're just reallyexcited to talk about mindset
and her journey to becoming anelite runner.
(01:14):
And we could talk aboutpodcasts.
We're both podcasters in thisspace, so you know I always love
to talk about podcasting, soexcited to talk about that too.
So welcome to the show, kayla.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Thank you for having me Super excited to be here and
to have a nice conversationabout life.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
All right, all right Sounds good.
Well, let's, you know, startthe conversation, learn a little
bit about you and, yeah, alittle bit about your journey.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, so I would say my journey personally started in
right around 2018, 2019.
The woman that you see sittinghere today is so much different
than the woman that I am.
Back then I was in a reallytoxic, dark place.
I was over 205 pounds, so justwas mentally, physically,
emotionally unhealthy, stuck ina not so great romantic
(01:58):
relationship, and I just feltlost, like I would look in the
mirror, couldn't even see who itwas that was staring back at me
, and so that's just to kind ofset the stage to where I came
from.
And now, several years later so2019 to now I've completely
shifted my life around, lost 75pounds.
It's really where the journeyultimately started was going on
(02:18):
a weight loss journey, which isa whole conversation of its own
if we want to get into that andhow I did that conversation of
its own, if we want to get intothat and how I did that.
And from there it went, fromhow did I look?
To what am I actually capableof doing in my life?
And so having that transitionhappen around my early 20s from
like 23, 24s to now I justturned 30 this year it's been a
(02:39):
huge learning journey, butthrough that I've just been so
excited around what's next forme, and that's how I ultimately
got into hybrid racing.
I started actually off in theNinja Warrior world, so I'm a
two-time American Ninja Warriorcompetitor, which is a really
fun fact about me.
I've been on the televisionshow twice.
So I started off after I lostall the weight getting involved
in that space.
And then came Spartan Racing,took on a couple of titles in
(03:01):
Colorado last year, actually wonthe I think it was the.
No, it was the super, the superthat I won for my age group.
So started to get involved inthere.
And then, out of nowhere, my momwas like you should try this
DECA thing.
And I was like, okay, neverbeen on an assault bike before,
never have touched a skier, hadzero clue what I was stepping
into, got my butt.
Handed to me I was superhumbled my very first DECA
(03:22):
strong race.
And handed to me I was superhumbled my very first deck, a
strong race.
And last year I stepped into itfull force, like I want to do
this Um and ended up at worldchampionships in 2023, taking
sixth place um in my age group,which I was super stoked about
because 25 to 29 is no joke, um,that age group is.
And then from there just therelationship with Kevin Gregory
from the underdog fitness teamtranspired.
(03:43):
And here we are sitting heretoday getting ready to lace up
for a race day tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
So that's awesome, that's awesome.
And shout out to coach KevinKevin Gregory, underdog fitness.
So you know, listeners havebeen following for a while.
Know that I started my journey,um, right before I met with
Kevin.
So you know, I did my firstrace back in 2018.
So, similar timeframe, and Idid a Spartan race.
It was Spartan sprint andArlington, virginia.
(04:08):
I remember it like it wasyesterday and I, you know, I
have trained for the race and Ithought I was doing all the
right things and I got there andit was a lot harder than I
thought it was going to be.
Uh, to the point where I didn'tknow if I was going to finish
it.
I was just like, you know, I'mgoing to do it because I do the
things I say I'm going to do,but mentally I'm like I don't
want to do this anymore, likeI'm going to quit, but I did it.
(04:29):
But afterwards I'm like youknow what?
I want to do this again and Iknow I could do it better.
So I went out to find a Spartancoach and I was lucky enough to
find coach Kevin.
So you know, we've been workingtogether for gosh five years
now and yeah, and my journey hasbeen a little bit about
overcoming fears and doingthings that I've never been able
to do, and Kevin's been a bigpart of that story, so it's cool
(04:52):
that we've been connectedthrough Coach Kevin.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Yeah, through sport.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Through sport.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Through sport, through fear and sweat.
Yeah right.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
And congratulations on your journey.
So I mean you said about thefun fact American Ninja Warrior.
Like I realized I didn't know75% of what about what you said.
I didn't know that about you,so that was a.
That was good learning.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Yeah, it was.
Uh, I've never done anythinglike gymnastics, rock climbing
related, so when I stepped intothat sport I was just like eyes
wide open.
I've never been able to swingon the bar, you know, you get
the hand rips all over the place.
But it was probably like twoyears into my training when I
got the call to be on thetelevision show and it was just
(05:33):
such an interesting like thing.
You see it on TV and then youactually go behind the scenes
and it's totally different thanwhat you could have imagined.
But my favorite parts of it wasactually had nothing to do with
the course.
It was being in interviewsettings like this where you're
behind the scenes with theproducers and they're asking you
questions.
And I remember my first yearjust like I get goosebumps
thinking about it.
But people in the room weremoved to tears because I was
(05:55):
just talking so openly about thejourney and how my life has
changed and what I aspire to do.
So I'm excited to be here inthis setting again.
It feels a little bit like aremake of that.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Well, and I love that .
I love your story because yourstory is similar to other
stories that I've shared on theshow and it's been my aspiration
to bring these stories to youknow, to a lot of people, to
really encourage them andmotivate them and let them know
that you can make a change inyour life, like if you're, if
you're stuck I know that's hardto do right.
If you're mentally stuck it'shard to kind of see past that.
But you have like a greatexample as yourself and just
(06:31):
pushing through that and gettingto where you are today is
incredible 100% yeah, and we canfor sure talk about, like what
that transition looked like,like I'm here to answer all the
questions.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Just be open and honest, cause I it listeners on
the other side.
It is so hard to make that flip, but once you do, I can say now
I was just actually having aconversation with someone before
this.
People were like it's just socool to see how happy you are
and it's like it's because ofthe decisions that I made a
couple years ago to change mylife and it's been nothing short
(07:01):
of hard but it's been worth it.
So it's always good to knowthat it's never going to feel
good, but one day you're goingto be like this is why I did it.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Okay, so you know one of the questions that I have
that I love to know I've becomea little bit of a student of
this I'd love to know if therewas a specific point in time
where you were just like this isit Like I'm going to make this
change and then once that, ifthat happened, and once it
happened, like, what did you doto get to that next step?
(07:31):
Like, how did you kind of quellany of the negative thoughts
and emotions about kind ofmaking a change.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Yeah, so I would say there was definitely a couple of
moments like, especially whileI was in that negative, toxic,
just state of mind and in thattime of my life.
But I would say one of thebiggest things that I can
remember to this day is I it'slike a beautiful sunny day I
live in Colorado, so you got themountains and the fresh air and
I was sitting on the couchinside my mom's house and she
(07:53):
was like hey, like let's get outand let's go for a walk, and I
was just so depressed with mylife and so lethargic Cause,
like my body that I was in Icouldn't move without getting
winded.
I couldn't walk up the stairswithout feeling like totally
exhausted and I was just like Ican't, like I'm just too tired,
and the look that like shotacross her face and like just
how bummed she looked, it likehit me in the heart so heavy.
(08:15):
And that's when I was likejolted externally, like there's
something that's not right withthis, Um, and so that got me
thinking around, like I need toreally start looking at what's
happening with my life andseeing if I can make a turn.
And then it was a couple ofhits after that.
Like I had some moments in thedressing room where things
started to rip and zip and ornot zip up, for that matter and
(08:37):
it was just like I finally gotsilent enough to just stare at
myself in the mirror and be likewhere did you go?
And so I remember, immediatelyafter that moment I was like I
need to just start with puttingbetter things into my body, like
that's the first thing that Ican do, because right now I
can't move.
If I can just think about whatI'm actually putting into my
body first, then that's got tobe a start.
And it was a great startbecause I was able to start to
(08:59):
mentally clear up some thingsthat were going on up there and
just feel a little bit morealive.
And just one little small, tinydecision after another led to
the next thing.
So I think you asked like whatsort of flipped the script?
I mean?
I think sometimes,unfortunately, you just get sick
and tired of being too sick andtired, and I hate that.
(09:19):
Like I've made it my mission asa coach and a trainer to wait
until people hit rock bottom.
But what I will say issometimes rock bottom is the
most fortunate place for you tobe.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Because you learn so much about yourself, and you
learn about what you don't want.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
And sometimes you need that leverage to be like.
I don't ever want to feel thatSome people are like well, how
can you go and like do this, andI'm like, cause I know what the
other side feels like.
So if you're there right now,if you've ever been there, use
it as your gift, use it as yourlearning lesson and take that
with you into greater heights.
That's probably the best thingthat I can say.
(09:53):
And then from there it comeswith developing a different
relationship with yourself andwith fear.
How do you look at yourself?
Let's start there and getreally deep internally, as far
as how do you talk to yourself,not only just internally, but
externally, to other people, andwhat do you give yourself the
ability to do?
(10:13):
If you're constantly holdingyourself behind that line of
fear of like there's no way thatI can do that.
You're never going to see whatyou're made of, and it's through
these tiny promises and theselittle like dipping your toe
into the water that makes yousee what you're capable of.
And then you start to get moreof a foot, and then you get your
whole leg in there, right, andthen you just fully start to
(10:34):
jump in.
So it's just these littlecompilations of small decisions
that allows for you to buildbelief and trust in yourself.
That I truly think takes you tothe end.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Okay, yeah, okay, yeah.
Well, that's really great.
Well, congratulations on yourjourney.
I mean, that's incredible and Iaspire to be where you are
today, and you've been doingthis for a lot less time than I
have.
I'm like, oh my gosh, like I'dlove to be there, but I know I'm
on my own journey.
But, but yeah, and I have to.
You know I've shared this withthe listeners and you know
multiple interviews that I'mjust trying to overcome fears
(11:01):
and do things I've never donebefore and I feel like I'm
making good progress.
But you know, in some cases I'mjust like, well, I have a win
here and I'm like, okay, I canget incrementally better, and I
can get incrementally better andwhere I want to go would
require a step change.
So in my mind I was like, yeah,I can get those increments, but
can I really make that stepchange?
And that's kind of where I'm attoday.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah, yeah.
So how are you handling that,then?
I'm now, I'm curious to know.
So what's the step and whereare we going?
Speaker 1 (11:31):
what's the step and where are we going?
How am I handling?
Well, first is putting myselfin a situation that forces me to
train and like set those goalsand train for it and just have
that as my target.
And, yeah, kind of like whatyou said, like it's a small
habit, it's the way you talk toyourself and I'm just trying to
use everything that's going goodand right in my life to say you
could do it, because you'vedone this, you've done that,
(11:52):
you've done the other thing, youcould do this, and it's a
little bit, it feels a littlebit out of reach, but so do
those other things at one pointin time.
So I remember, like just about ayear ago and this is fresh for
me because I have this racecoming up again but just about a
year ago I did the BrooklynHalf Marathon and I was excited
(12:13):
because it was my first race inNew York City and I did
everything wrong.
Like I got to the city late, Iate late, I didn't sleep, I
didn't, you know, warm up as Ishould, the race was good but it
wasn't great, like I could havedone a lot better and it wasn't
my fastest race.
I'm like gosh, I could do thata lot better.
But I had a Father's Day race,five miler, that was just.
That was just a few weeks later, which is coming up this
weekend.
So I'm doing it again.
(12:33):
And I remember at that race Iwas like I'm going to find
redemption in this race and Ikilled it Like I blew away my
time, what I thought I could do,just by minutes.
I couldn't even believe it.
So much so that this year islike I'm going to do really well
in this race and I'm like I'mgoing to hit this time.
And I went back and I looked atthe time from last year and
it's around the same time.
(12:54):
That's how well I did last yearand this year I'm like, no, if
I did that last year, like I gotto go even better.
So in my mind I'm thinking,gosh, this is so far to reach,
but in reality it's not as faras, at least I think it is.
So that's some of the thingsthat I've been doing, but I know
I have a lot of work to do.
Like I have a long way to go.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Oh, there's so many things that I just thought of.
The first thing is like you'rebuilding up proof, right, those
little tiny things.
That you're doing is puttingproof in a book so that when you
need it, you can go back andrecall on it Like that's a huge
thing when it comes.
Taking that next step is let'sgo back and look at the proof
that I can totally do this.
And then the other thing thatyou mentioned oh gosh, here I am
(13:33):
, I'm having the brain It'llcome back to me, but that was
one thing is like the buildingof the proof, oh, the comparing
yourself to your previous self.
We get really good at comparingourselves to other people and I
think that gets talked about somuch, right, don't compare
yourself to other athletes.
You guys are on two differentjourneys, but then we never talk
about comparing ourselves toourselves from previous versions
(13:54):
, and I think that it's adouble-edged sword, because you
can be like, look at how farI've come.
But one thing I talked about inone of my Instagram stories was
I did you know the 30, 30assault bike?
Speaker 2 (14:05):
that we do.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Beautiful guys.
30 seconds of work, 30 secondsof rest, 30 rounds, it's
basically 15 minutes of death,15 minutes of just thinking
about death, the best way I canthink about it on the assault
bike.
So when I was doing it I waslike I really want to set a new
PR, because we all want to setPRs right Every day.
We want to try and set a new PR.
I set a PR by one calorie.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
One calorie, and the last few times that I did it it
was like 30 calories, 50calories, right, Like cause.
I've just built up my fitness.
The better you get, the smallerthe strides are as far as
improvement goes.
So if you're in that place oflike, why am I not like chopping
off like minutes and all thisgood stuff off my time?
Just remember, like that's howamazing you've gotten Like now,
(14:49):
it's like the fine tuning and wejust have to be grateful for
the process that we went through, cause if we only look at the
end result, we're chopping outall of the joy, all of the
gratitude, all of the freakingblood, sweat and tears to get
there.
You know, if I look at theKayla who raced last year versus
the Kayla that's racing thefirst six months of this year
two completely different peopleTomorrow, when I race, my
(15:11):
current PR for deck is strong,is 1348.
I'm hoping to go low thirteens.
Even if I go 1347, still asecond faster Right.
And so I think it's likeimportant that, yes, use it as a
way to look back and be likeI've done all these incredible
things, but remember, the betterand better you get, it's less
about how big the strides areand more about, like whoa, enjoy
the process, enjoy the beautyof what it takes to actually get
(15:34):
here, cause that's the funstuff.
Cause standing on the podiumlasts for like 10 seconds,
that's like okay, what's thenext goal?
Speaker 1 (15:40):
That's right.
That's right.
Yeah, no, you're absolutelyright about that, and it's
interesting you mentioned thatCause I think about the Brooklyn
half marathon this year.
So you know, my primary sportis road racing not necessarily
like the hybrid, but I do thehybrid because I enjoy doing
something that's challenging andI think it will really help me
in my road races.
So I'll talk about BrooklynHalf for a moment.
This year, leading up to theBrooklyn Half, I had I don't
(16:03):
know about 15 weeks of solidtraining, which I can't say that
I had last year.
Yeah, that's huge so last year Ihad a lot of travel, I had a
lot of things just come up, soit was very inconsistent.
And this year I was like I'mgoing to do it, no matter what,
I'm going to do it.
And there was a conference thatI volunteer for every year.
That's almost a week or twobefore the race, didn't matter.
(16:25):
I'm either getting up early inthe morning or making time
during the day and I need to dowhat I need to do.
No, I'm not going to go out atmidnight to do karaoke because I
need to do my long run,although I may or may not have
gone out, but not that late,right?
But it was those things that Ikept in mind because I needed to
stick to my training and it waslike you said.
It was a process and I knew thatthese are the things I need to
(16:48):
do to be successful.
And by the time I got to theend of it, I was proud of just
that.
Even before I got to thestarting line, I was like I did
15 weeks of good work and I feelgood about where I am today.
And, irrespective of how therace went, I felt good about it,
although I did get one minutePR.
I was hoping it was gonna be alittle bit more but, all things
(17:13):
considered, I was like you knowwhat this is?
This is what I wanted.
I wanted to do better and Iwant to have a better experience
and I wanted to train better,and I did all the things I said
I was going to do.
And I kept the promise of mypromises to myself.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Yeah, do you find it interesting how the best of the
best athletes, like the peoplethat really want big things, how
we always feel like we'rebehind, like I heard that once I
think it was like a trendingaudio on Instagram where it's
like the best people always feellike they're just a step behind
and so we work harder andharder, which again could be a
double-edged sword if?
(17:41):
it turns into burnout or itturns into something great.
But like it's just sointeresting to me of how we
always feel that and so, knowingthat I'm like okay, I have to
be really good about how am Icelebrating myself, even just
like the small wins here orthere.
Also, am I, am I in balance?
Like?
balance and racing and eliteathletics.
(18:02):
It's like it's never going tobe 50, 50.
It's always going to be likeit's race season, it's 90, 10,
right, or hey, it's off season.
We need to go back and have alittle bit of fun and sort of
pick up, you know, on, maybewhere we left off on other
things in life.
But yeah, it's just steppinginto.
Elite athletics has been reallyinteresting.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
That's great and you know I'm curious, like I know
you talked a little bit aboutkind of the process and the
habits, um, and those steps toget to becoming an elite athlete
, but like, mentally, what else?
What made you believe you couldeven do that?
Like what made you I don't evenknow if it's a question that
made you believe maybe why doyou have the desire?
Maybe that's a different way ofasking it.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Yeah, Well again, when I first started my weight
loss journey, I was like I wouldlove to look better, I'd love
to fit into my clothes again,and I think that's why majority
of people do it Right.
At least why they start at leastwhy they start it has
everything to do with aestheticsand like, while like your
clothes fitting better and allthat is like fine and dandy,
that number on the scale.
Again, it's kind of likestanding on top of the podium.
(19:04):
That excitement lasts for twoseconds and then what are you
left with?
And so the big shift for me andthis is when I went from just
losing weight to getting intoNinja Warrior was I want to see
what I'm capable of actuallydoing, and so at first it was a
lot of like I don't, I don'tdream big, I just want to try.
And it was from there on out.
It's realizing like you're nevergoing to feel a hundred percent
(19:26):
ready.
People think that you have tohave all these titles and
accolades in order to go outthere and do the thing, when in
fact, no one actually really hasthose when they first start,
and so they have to startsomewhere.
And so like, well, where'd youget the confidence?
It's like you don't ever haveit.
It's just you have to go andactually do it and be brave
enough to try and realize that,regardless, it's a win-win,
(19:49):
because you're either going tolearn something or you're going
to maybe gain a really coolresult.
It's never like you failed.
So I think it was justaccumulation of all that, but
mostly it was that mindset shiftof like aesthetics versus what
it is that I want to be capableof doing, and I just kept a
really open heart and an openmind and I think in just in life
it's really important to dothat because I thought that I
(20:10):
was going to go all the way andyou know this career that I was
in before I stepped into fitness, like I left my corporate job,
I yeah, there's a whole storythere during covid guys national
pandemic I'm like I'm going toleave my six figure job to go
start a business in health andwellness because I see people of
the world right now and theyneed love.
That was that was terrifying.
That's a whole differentconversation.
(20:33):
But I thought I was going to goall the way in Ninja.
I thought I was going to go hita buzzer on the television show
and then, out of nowhere,hybrid racing between Spartan
and DECA came into my life andit was totally unexpected.
I wasn't looking for it, but itwas everything that I needed.
So you might as well just tryanyways and see what you can
accomplish.
And B, just let the universehelp you.
Be open and willing to thethings that are coming into your
(21:03):
awareness, that maybe you'reover here trying to jiggle the
handle on a door that's beenlocked for years.
That door might not be meantfor you, and so I think about
you right with half marathon andall these things.
I think we were talking aboutthis before we press play on the
podcast.
It's like I really want toaccomplish set things, but like
what if there's this whole otherworld of opportunity over here
that you just have your back to,when you just need to be like,
(21:23):
take a deep breath, I'm going topause and just let what's going
to come to me come to me?
You know, it's such a powerfulway to navigate life when you
just are open to what's to comeand you're like well, let's just
get curious, let's get creative, and it takes the pressure out
(21:43):
of it completely, Cause you'renot like gripping so tight onto
this one goal.
It's like I trust that theuniverse has my back and it's
going to take me exactly where Ineed to go and I'm just going
to learn the lessons and knowthat I can do whatever it is
that comes for me on the otherside.
I can handle whatever it is.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.
I love that.
And you know, one of the thingsyou mentioned was just kind of
about like how we talk toourselves and I've been thinking
about this a lot lately and youknow, coach Kevin actually
asked me this before, rightbefore my last race he goes.
So you know what are the thingsthat you kind of repeat to
yourself or you say to yourself,a little bit like affirmations,
which I used to do, and I needto get back into it because I
(22:16):
thought it was really helpfuland I was like gosh, I didn't
really think too too much aboutit, but here's some of the
things that that you know I saidto myself.
So I shared that with him, andthen at the race, they were
making bracelets and you couldwrite on those bracelets right.
You can write on the braceletswhatever it is that you want.
So I'm like I'm going to writewhat it is that Kevin and I had
talked about.
So that's been helpful for me.
(22:38):
I'd be interested to hear ifthat's been helpful for you and
if you've been doing that for awhile, Like during the race,
when it gets hard, like do youhave just something in your mind
that you should just kind ofsay to yourself to get you
through?
Speaker 3 (22:48):
It's funny.
So I used to take a Sharpie,like all last season and I did
this during World Championshipstoo and I put it on my arm,
because the two moments whereyou're questioning your life
during a race is on the bike andon the tank, and then after
that you're just moving so likeerratically on the burpees that
you're like I don't know.
I just want to be done so like I.
I purposely put it there sothat in any moment if I had like
(23:10):
some sort of doubt or negativeself talk, I could look down and
see it.
So I'm very big on like thevisual, like quick cues, and I
want to say like the three wordsthat I've had that were the
more impactful one, um was trust, cause trust is something as an
athlete that I feel like.
That's where I'm at right nowand that's what coach Kevin has
actually brought to my life.
A lot is giving me what feelslike the most impossible
(23:34):
training plan and then showingmyself that I can do it and
being like, okay, if I can dothat, I can definitely do this
for 12 minutes you know.
So I need to just go out there,trust my training and do what I
know how to do.
Just let it turn on.
Another one I've had on my armis celebrate, because I really
believe that's what this is allabout, and it's one of the
reasons why I love DECA as anorganization is because this is
all about earning your mark andcelebrating fitness.
(23:54):
I made a decision a few yearsago to completely change my life
, and so I'm just always sograteful every time I get to
step up to the starting block ofa ninja course or to, you know,
the reverse lunges on the DECAcourse, because it's just
another opportunity for me toshow up for myself and then just
, of course, just straight upgratitude right, like gratitude,
(24:14):
I feel like, is something thatgets missed so often.
But definitely those littletools and this is something I
really wanted to share with thepodcast group today is one of
the mental things that hasreally shifted for me lately.
Kind of goes along the lines ofhow you view yourself.
But my boyfriend and I wererecently talking about this Do
you listen to Sally McRae andher podcast at all?
(24:34):
So, listeners, another funpodcast, because I assume we all
like to share podcasts witheach other.
Nick Bear recently just did aguest interview with Sally McRae
and she's an ultra runner andshe's fantastic like has amazing
documentaries on YouTube.
Really big fan of her.
But I got this idea from her.
But it's we wait to act likethe champion until we have the
(24:55):
title when?
Why don't we just show up likethe champion until we have the
title when?
Why don't we just show up asthe champion today?
If you want to be the champion,you have to show up as that
person now and you have to thinklike, how do I train like a
champion?
How do I sleep like a champion?
How do I eat?
Like what do champions do andhow can I do that?
That's realistic and applicableto my life, and that's one
thing.
That's.
The phase that I'm in right nowis like I'm showing up to this
(25:18):
race tomorrow Like I've alreadywon the world championships and
am I physically there?
I don't know.
Maybe, I don't know, I couldshock myself tomorrow and do
something absolutely insane,like set a world record.
I'm not worried about that.
I'm worried about puttingmyself in the space of like, how
does Kayla the champion thinkabout this?
How would she approach this racetomorrow, even if I'm not
(25:39):
totally physically there yet, ifI'm mentally there, I have no
doubt that I'm going to crossthat finish line A, which is
really important, but B, thatI'm going to do something really
incredible on the other side.
So that's what I would say forthe listeners If you're trying
to get past or go to that nextstep, or just have something
mentally positive in the daysleading up to the race, think
(26:00):
about how does fill in the blankyour name, the champion,
approach this race?
How do they do certain thingsand show up as that person now
rather than when you actuallyhave the title, Cause who knows
when that actually will happen.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
So I love it.
Yeah, I love it.
And since you shared yours,I'll share mine.
So I've been listening to verypopular public speaker.
So on my long runs I'mlistening to podcasts and I've
been listening to it for a while, but I've never used it myself.
But his phrase was I can, I will, I must, and I love it.
(26:38):
And I actually put thatparticular episode of that
speech that he gives like onreplay.
So every once in a while itpops back in and it's a reminder
for me.
So when Kevin asked me, I'mlike that's what came to mind
and that's what I said to myselfkind of during the race.
And I'm like and I realizedthis, if I look back to the
races, the attitude that I haveabout the race, going into the
(26:58):
race and during, has been athere's been a really good
correlation to how I perform.
Like if I go in thinking I cando this, I will certainly do a
lot better than if I have anegative attitude about the race
, like I didn't train properlyor this hurts.
We're just talking about youknow, we're talking about
certain things that are kind ofbothering us, right, but if I
(27:21):
have that negative attitude,then more than likely that's
excuse me, that's going to holdme back from, you know, really
doing well, so really performingwell, so anyway, so that's,
that's mine.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Yeah, I love that.
Oh, so good.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
So you know I kind that, oh so good.
So you know, kind of, as wewind down here, I'd love to hear
a little bit about what wouldyou say was your biggest
obstacle during your journey andhow'd you overcome it?
Speaker 3 (27:48):
Well, I can tell you what my biggest obstacle is
right now, and I think Imentioned a lot around the trust
piece.
Like tomorrow, I feel soconfident in the plan and what I
need to execute that I knowthat I'm going to do well
tomorrow, whether again, it'slike a world record breaking
time or whether it's just, youknow, like a couple seconds off
my time, I feel so confident inthat.
(28:10):
So the trust thing is actuallywe're on the up and up on that
one.
But one thing that I've noticedas of recently especially again
when you start to get to thebest of the best is you start to
obsess over what the other bestof the best are doing, right,
cause they say, well, if youwant to be this person, you
gotta do exactly what they'redoing, and I agree with that to
a standpoint.
I think you obviously have tofind your brand and what works
(28:31):
for you and your season of life.
Um, but honestly, it's it's thecomparison.
That's one thing that I feellike even back then that I was
really struggling with is justoh, this girl's back looks so
shredded, which is so dumb,right, and I want my back to
look like that, but how manywomen like think about those
things Right, and I have toimagine men probably go through
those things too.
So it's really just the thecomparison piece, um.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
I can either confirm nor deny that part.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
That part happens and you're asking you know how do I
get over it?
I think you just have to startwith giving yourself grace A
because one.
Everyone does it.
And the better you get at thismental stuff, you realize it
never actually goes away.
That was actually probably oneof the biggest lessons that I've
learned in life is like thesethoughts that are negative.
They don't ever go away.
You just get really good atbeing able to say, oh, pause,
(29:20):
kind of politely, call myselfout, appreciate that, let's
unpack that a little bit.
But then let's put that where itneeds to be, which is in the
non-serving category, and let'sflip the script a little bit and
think about what's going toserve me.
So I think that's the best wayto overcome any obstacle.
Right is can you pause in themoment, can you become
reflective, can you be gentleand kind to yourself around the
(29:42):
fact that you had the thoughtand it's okay, you're not crazy,
you're not wrong.
You just need to unpack it alittle bit and give yourself the
time to think about well, whereis this coming from?
Is it a consistent trigger?
Is it something that I need to,like you know, go and seek
additional work on, additionalhelp on and then take the next
best step from there right.
And that next best step canlook so different from moment to
(30:03):
moment and time to time, and itdoesn't mean it's always the
right step, but it's a step.
It's better than doingabsolutely nothing at all.
So for anyone that's facing anobstacle, pause, reflect, give
yourself graciousness and thentake the next best step that you
possibly can.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
All right, sage advice for our listeners.
I love this conversation.
I love everything that youshare.
I'd love to hear you know haveyou share a little bit about
your podcast, your fellowpodcast host?
So share a little bit aboutyour podcast and the health and
wellness business that you havegoing on.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I sort of mentioned that Imade this big transition from
corporate to owning a business.
That was a really big decision.
I was with my corporate job asa professional recruiter for
about four years was supersuccessful.
I had all the money and theaccolades.
And during COVID you started torealize like whoa, this is
(30:58):
where I'm at, this is how Iactually feel.
Things got really quiet andyou're like whoa, I need to
change something here.
And so I just came to realizethat I was living this life that
people would define successful,but I didn't define as
successful, and so success forme was impact and wanting to do
something that was much greaterthan myself and giving back in
(31:20):
that way.
And so, after I had lost abunch of weight, I was like it'd
be so cool to be able to helpother people do the same thing,
and so that's where I started myown business, did that for a
couple of years.
Now I work for um, a recreationcenter and a ninja facility, so
I do a lot of personal training, yada, yada.
But the podcast weaved itself inthere right when I left my job
and I was thinking about how canI allow for people during this
(31:43):
time of the pandemic, like whenwe're at home, we're depressed
because we can't have any socialinteraction.
People are like way too closeto their fridge and pantry so
they're gaining weight likecrazy and they're not taking on
healthy habits.
Like how can I truly impactthem?
And it started off with everyTuesday I would go on to
Facebook and Instagram and Iwould do a live video, and Taco
(32:05):
about a Tuesday was the name ofthe series then, and I would
bring a healthy, delicious tacorecipe because I was like well,
everyone loves tacos, I lovetacos, and it's Tuesday, so
let's talk about tacos and Italk about something in relation
to life, right, Like a lessonor things that people were
asking me questions on as ahealth coach, and so that's how
it got started.
And so I did that for about ayear and I realized I feel like
(32:28):
I could have more of an impactif I got off the social and I
start to do this more on like apodcasting platform.
So started that about two and ahalf three years ago and we're
still running strong For all mylisteners that are listening.
You know we're goofy, we say alot of crazy things, but it's a
conversation around life, alwaysLike I'm very genuine and open
(32:48):
with the stories and the thingsthat I'm going through.
I literally plan my podcast asI'm like going through it.
Like as we sit down and we talk, it's just what am I going
through in life and how can Igive back to help you better
navigate what it is that you'regoing through.
So it's a good, good fun thingthat I do.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Love it.
Yeah, love it Well.
Congrats on your three years asa podcast host and your
transition into the health andwellness space, and everything
that you've accomplished.
Yes, thank you so much Allright, so I'm going to put your
information in the show notes tomake it easy for everyone to
find your podcast and follow youonline.
And again, I just want to thankyou for coming on the show and
sharing your story with all ofour listeners.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
Thank you so much for having meStoked to be here.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
All right, have a good day you too, that's it for
this episode of Inspired to RunPodcast.
That's it for this episode ofInspired to Run Podcast.
We hope you are inspired totake control of your health and
fitness and take it to the nextlevel.
Be sure to click the subscribebutton to join our community and
also please rate and review.
Thanks for listening.
Hey, my friend, do you feel stuck sometimes and
feel it's too difficult to makea change in your life?
Or maybe it's about getting tothe next level in your fitness,
even if it feels out of reach?
Well, this week you are in fora real treat.
I'm sitting down with anincredible athlete and we share
stories and insights that youcan apply to help you get to the
next level.
(00:20):
Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Welcome to Inspired to Run podcast.
Here you will find inspiration,whether you are looking to take
control of your health andfitness or you are a seasoned
runner looking for community andsome extra motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host, richardConnor.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Hi, my friend, Welcome to Inspire to Run
Podcast.
I have the pleasure of sittingdown today with Kayla Cittadino.
She is the host of Talk Aboutit Tuesday.
She is an elite runner,aspiring elite runner for DECA,
and I'm just so excited to havethis conversation with her.
She's part of the underdogfamily, she's one of the podium
chasers and we're just reallyexcited to talk about mindset
and her journey to becoming anelite runner.
(01:14):
And we could talk aboutpodcasts.
We're both podcasters in thisspace, so you know I always love
to talk about podcasting, soexcited to talk about that too.
So welcome to the show, kayla.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Thank you for having me Super excited to be here and
to have a nice conversationabout life.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
All right, all right Sounds good.
Well, let's, you know, startthe conversation, learn a little
bit about you and, yeah, alittle bit about your journey.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, so I would say my journey personally started in
right around 2018, 2019.
The woman that you see sittinghere today is so much different
than the woman that I am.
Back then I was in a reallytoxic, dark place.
I was over 205 pounds, so justwas mentally, physically,
emotionally unhealthy, stuck ina not so great romantic
(01:58):
relationship, and I just feltlost, like I would look in the
mirror, couldn't even see who itwas that was staring back at me
, and so that's just to kind ofset the stage to where I came
from.
And now, several years later so2019 to now I've completely
shifted my life around, lost 75pounds.
It's really where the journeyultimately started was going on
(02:18):
a weight loss journey, which isa whole conversation of its own
if we want to get into that andhow I did that conversation of
its own, if we want to get intothat and how I did that.
And from there it went, fromhow did I look?
To what am I actually capableof doing in my life?
And so having that transitionhappen around my early 20s from
like 23, 24s to now I justturned 30 this year it's been a
(02:39):
huge learning journey, butthrough that I've just been so
excited around what's next forme, and that's how I ultimately
got into hybrid racing.
I started actually off in theNinja Warrior world, so I'm a
two-time American Ninja Warriorcompetitor, which is a really
fun fact about me.
I've been on the televisionshow twice.
So I started off after I lostall the weight getting involved
in that space.
And then came Spartan Racing,took on a couple of titles in
(03:01):
Colorado last year, actually wonthe I think it was the.
No, it was the super, the superthat I won for my age group.
So started to get involved inthere.
And then, out of nowhere, my momwas like you should try this
DECA thing.
And I was like, okay, neverbeen on an assault bike before,
never have touched a skier, hadzero clue what I was stepping
into, got my butt.
Handed to me I was superhumbled my very first DECA
(03:22):
strong race.
And handed to me I was superhumbled my very first deck, a
strong race.
And last year I stepped into itfull force, like I want to do
this Um and ended up at worldchampionships in 2023, taking
sixth place um in my age group,which I was super stoked about
because 25 to 29 is no joke, um,that age group is.
And then from there just therelationship with Kevin Gregory
from the underdog fitness teamtranspired.
(03:43):
And here we are sitting heretoday getting ready to lace up
for a race day tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
So that's awesome, that's awesome.
And shout out to coach KevinKevin Gregory, underdog fitness.
So you know, listeners havebeen following for a while.
Know that I started my journey,um, right before I met with
Kevin.
So you know, I did my firstrace back in 2018.
So, similar timeframe, and Idid a Spartan race.
It was Spartan sprint andArlington, virginia.
(04:08):
I remember it like it wasyesterday and I, you know, I
have trained for the race and Ithought I was doing all the
right things and I got there andit was a lot harder than I
thought it was going to be.
Uh, to the point where I didn'tknow if I was going to finish
it.
I was just like, you know, I'mgoing to do it because I do the
things I say I'm going to do,but mentally I'm like I don't
want to do this anymore, likeI'm going to quit, but I did it.
(04:29):
But afterwards I'm like youknow what?
I want to do this again and Iknow I could do it better.
So I went out to find a Spartancoach and I was lucky enough to
find coach Kevin.
So you know, we've been workingtogether for gosh five years
now and yeah, and my journey hasbeen a little bit about
overcoming fears and doingthings that I've never been able
to do, and Kevin's been a bigpart of that story, so it's cool
(04:52):
that we've been connectedthrough Coach Kevin.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Yeah, through sport.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Through sport.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Through sport, through fear and sweat.
Yeah right.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
And congratulations on your journey.
So I mean you said about thefun fact American Ninja Warrior.
Like I realized I didn't know75% of what about what you said.
I didn't know that about you,so that was a.
That was good learning.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Yeah, it was.
Uh, I've never done anythinglike gymnastics, rock climbing
related, so when I stepped intothat sport I was just like eyes
wide open.
I've never been able to swingon the bar, you know, you get
the hand rips all over the place.
But it was probably like twoyears into my training when I
got the call to be on thetelevision show and it was just
(05:33):
such an interesting like thing.
You see it on TV and then youactually go behind the scenes
and it's totally different thanwhat you could have imagined.
But my favorite parts of it wasactually had nothing to do with
the course.
It was being in interviewsettings like this where you're
behind the scenes with theproducers and they're asking you
questions.
And I remember my first yearjust like I get goosebumps
thinking about it.
But people in the room weremoved to tears because I was
(05:55):
just talking so openly about thejourney and how my life has
changed and what I aspire to do.
So I'm excited to be here inthis setting again.
It feels a little bit like aremake of that.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Well, and I love that .
I love your story because yourstory is similar to other
stories that I've shared on theshow and it's been my aspiration
to bring these stories to youknow, to a lot of people, to
really encourage them andmotivate them and let them know
that you can make a change inyour life, like if you're, if
you're stuck I know that's hardto do right.
If you're mentally stuck it'shard to kind of see past that.
But you have like a greatexample as yourself and just
(06:31):
pushing through that and gettingto where you are today is
incredible 100% yeah, and we canfor sure talk about, like what
that transition looked like,like I'm here to answer all the
questions.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Just be open and honest, cause I it listeners on
the other side.
It is so hard to make that flip, but once you do, I can say now
I was just actually having aconversation with someone before
this.
People were like it's just socool to see how happy you are
and it's like it's because ofthe decisions that I made a
couple years ago to change mylife and it's been nothing short
(07:01):
of hard but it's been worth it.
So it's always good to knowthat it's never going to feel
good, but one day you're goingto be like this is why I did it.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Okay, so you know one of the questions that I have
that I love to know I've becomea little bit of a student of
this I'd love to know if therewas a specific point in time
where you were just like this isit Like I'm going to make this
change and then once that, ifthat happened, and once it
happened, like, what did you doto get to that next step?
(07:31):
Like, how did you kind of quellany of the negative thoughts
and emotions about kind ofmaking a change.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Yeah, so I would say there was definitely a couple of
moments like, especially whileI was in that negative, toxic,
just state of mind and in thattime of my life.
But I would say one of thebiggest things that I can
remember to this day is I it'slike a beautiful sunny day I
live in Colorado, so you got themountains and the fresh air and
I was sitting on the couchinside my mom's house and she
(07:53):
was like hey, like let's get outand let's go for a walk, and I
was just so depressed with mylife and so lethargic Cause,
like my body that I was in Icouldn't move without getting
winded.
I couldn't walk up the stairswithout feeling like totally
exhausted and I was just like Ican't, like I'm just too tired,
and the look that like shotacross her face and like just
how bummed she looked, it likehit me in the heart so heavy.
(08:15):
And that's when I was likejolted externally, like there's
something that's not right withthis, Um, and so that got me
thinking around, like I need toreally start looking at what's
happening with my life andseeing if I can make a turn.
And then it was a couple ofhits after that.
Like I had some moments in thedressing room where things
started to rip and zip and ornot zip up, for that matter and
(08:37):
it was just like I finally gotsilent enough to just stare at
myself in the mirror and be likewhere did you go?
And so I remember, immediatelyafter that moment I was like I
need to just start with puttingbetter things into my body, like
that's the first thing that Ican do, because right now I
can't move.
If I can just think about whatI'm actually putting into my
body first, then that's got tobe a start.
And it was a great startbecause I was able to start to
(08:59):
mentally clear up some thingsthat were going on up there and
just feel a little bit morealive.
And just one little small, tinydecision after another led to
the next thing.
So I think you asked like whatsort of flipped the script?
I mean?
I think sometimes,unfortunately, you just get sick
and tired of being too sick andtired, and I hate that.
(09:19):
Like I've made it my mission asa coach and a trainer to wait
until people hit rock bottom.
But what I will say issometimes rock bottom is the
most fortunate place for you tobe.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Because you learn so much about yourself, and you
learn about what you don't want.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
And sometimes you need that leverage to be like.
I don't ever want to feel thatSome people are like well, how
can you go and like do this, andI'm like, cause I know what the
other side feels like.
So if you're there right now,if you've ever been there, use
it as your gift, use it as yourlearning lesson and take that
with you into greater heights.
That's probably the best thingthat I can say.
(09:53):
And then from there it comeswith developing a different
relationship with yourself andwith fear.
How do you look at yourself?
Let's start there and getreally deep internally, as far
as how do you talk to yourself,not only just internally, but
externally, to other people, andwhat do you give yourself the
ability to do?
(10:13):
If you're constantly holdingyourself behind that line of
fear of like there's no way thatI can do that.
You're never going to see whatyou're made of, and it's through
these tiny promises and theselittle like dipping your toe
into the water that makes yousee what you're capable of.
And then you start to get moreof a foot, and then you get your
whole leg in there, right, andthen you just fully start to
(10:34):
jump in.
So it's just these littlecompilations of small decisions
that allows for you to buildbelief and trust in yourself.
That I truly think takes you tothe end.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Okay, yeah, okay, yeah.
Well, that's really great.
Well, congratulations on yourjourney.
I mean, that's incredible and Iaspire to be where you are
today, and you've been doingthis for a lot less time than I
have.
I'm like, oh my gosh, like I'dlove to be there, but I know I'm
on my own journey.
But, but yeah, and I have to.
You know I've shared this withthe listeners and you know
multiple interviews that I'mjust trying to overcome fears
(11:01):
and do things I've never donebefore and I feel like I'm
making good progress.
But you know, in some cases I'mjust like, well, I have a win
here and I'm like, okay, I canget incrementally better, and I
can get incrementally better andwhere I want to go would
require a step change.
So in my mind I was like, yeah,I can get those increments, but
can I really make that stepchange?
And that's kind of where I'm attoday.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah, yeah.
So how are you handling that,then?
I'm now, I'm curious to know.
So what's the step and whereare we going?
Speaker 1 (11:31):
what's the step and where are we going?
How am I handling?
Well, first is putting myselfin a situation that forces me to
train and like set those goalsand train for it and just have
that as my target.
And, yeah, kind of like whatyou said, like it's a small
habit, it's the way you talk toyourself and I'm just trying to
use everything that's going goodand right in my life to say you
could do it, because you'vedone this, you've done that,
(11:52):
you've done the other thing, youcould do this, and it's a
little bit, it feels a littlebit out of reach, but so do
those other things at one pointin time.
So I remember, like just about ayear ago and this is fresh for
me because I have this racecoming up again but just about a
year ago I did the BrooklynHalf Marathon and I was excited
(12:13):
because it was my first race inNew York City and I did
everything wrong.
Like I got to the city late, Iate late, I didn't sleep, I
didn't, you know, warm up as Ishould, the race was good but it
wasn't great, like I could havedone a lot better and it wasn't
my fastest race.
I'm like gosh, I could do thata lot better.
But I had a Father's Day race,five miler, that was just.
That was just a few weeks later, which is coming up this
weekend.
So I'm doing it again.
(12:33):
And I remember at that race Iwas like I'm going to find
redemption in this race and Ikilled it Like I blew away my
time, what I thought I could do,just by minutes.
I couldn't even believe it.
So much so that this year islike I'm going to do really well
in this race and I'm like I'mgoing to hit this time.
And I went back and I looked atthe time from last year and
it's around the same time.
(12:54):
That's how well I did last yearand this year I'm like, no, if
I did that last year, like I gotto go even better.
So in my mind I'm thinking,gosh, this is so far to reach,
but in reality it's not as faras, at least I think it is.
So that's some of the thingsthat I've been doing, but I know
I have a lot of work to do.
Like I have a long way to go.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Oh, there's so many things that I just thought of.
The first thing is like you'rebuilding up proof, right, those
little tiny things.
That you're doing is puttingproof in a book so that when you
need it, you can go back andrecall on it Like that's a huge
thing when it comes.
Taking that next step is let'sgo back and look at the proof
that I can totally do this.
And then the other thing thatyou mentioned oh gosh, here I am
(13:33):
, I'm having the brain It'llcome back to me, but that was
one thing is like the buildingof the proof, oh, the comparing
yourself to your previous self.
We get really good at comparingourselves to other people and I
think that gets talked about somuch, right, don't compare
yourself to other athletes.
You guys are on two differentjourneys, but then we never talk
about comparing ourselves toourselves from previous versions
(13:54):
, and I think that it's adouble-edged sword, because you
can be like, look at how farI've come.
But one thing I talked about inone of my Instagram stories was
I did you know the 30, 30assault bike?
Speaker 2 (14:05):
that we do.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Beautiful guys.
30 seconds of work, 30 secondsof rest, 30 rounds, it's
basically 15 minutes of death,15 minutes of just thinking
about death, the best way I canthink about it on the assault
bike.
So when I was doing it I waslike I really want to set a new
PR, because we all want to setPRs right Every day.
We want to try and set a new PR.
I set a PR by one calorie.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
One calorie, and the last few times that I did it it
was like 30 calories, 50calories, right, Like cause.
I've just built up my fitness.
The better you get, the smallerthe strides are as far as
improvement goes.
So if you're in that place oflike, why am I not like chopping
off like minutes and all thisgood stuff off my time?
Just remember, like that's howamazing you've gotten Like now,
(14:49):
it's like the fine tuning and wejust have to be grateful for
the process that we went through, cause if we only look at the
end result, we're chopping outall of the joy, all of the
gratitude, all of the freakingblood, sweat and tears to get
there.
You know, if I look at theKayla who raced last year versus
the Kayla that's racing thefirst six months of this year
two completely different peopleTomorrow, when I race, my
(15:11):
current PR for deck is strong,is 1348.
I'm hoping to go low thirteens.
Even if I go 1347, still asecond faster Right.
And so I think it's likeimportant that, yes, use it as a
way to look back and be likeI've done all these incredible
things, but remember, the betterand better you get, it's less
about how big the strides areand more about, like whoa, enjoy
the process, enjoy the beautyof what it takes to actually get
(15:34):
here, cause that's the funstuff.
Cause standing on the podiumlasts for like 10 seconds,
that's like okay, what's thenext goal?
Speaker 1 (15:40):
That's right.
That's right.
Yeah, no, you're absolutelyright about that, and it's
interesting you mentioned thatCause I think about the Brooklyn
half marathon this year.
So you know, my primary sportis road racing not necessarily
like the hybrid, but I do thehybrid because I enjoy doing
something that's challenging andI think it will really help me
in my road races.
So I'll talk about BrooklynHalf for a moment.
This year, leading up to theBrooklyn Half, I had I don't
(16:03):
know about 15 weeks of solidtraining, which I can't say that
I had last year.
Yeah, that's huge so last year Ihad a lot of travel, I had a
lot of things just come up, soit was very inconsistent.
And this year I was like I'mgoing to do it, no matter what,
I'm going to do it.
And there was a conference thatI volunteer for every year.
That's almost a week or twobefore the race, didn't matter.
(16:25):
I'm either getting up early inthe morning or making time
during the day and I need to dowhat I need to do.
No, I'm not going to go out atmidnight to do karaoke because I
need to do my long run,although I may or may not have
gone out, but not that late,right?
But it was those things that Ikept in mind because I needed to
stick to my training and it waslike you said.
It was a process and I knew thatthese are the things I need to
(16:48):
do to be successful.
And by the time I got to theend of it, I was proud of just
that.
Even before I got to thestarting line, I was like I did
15 weeks of good work and I feelgood about where I am today.
And, irrespective of how therace went, I felt good about it,
although I did get one minutePR.
I was hoping it was gonna be alittle bit more but, all things
(17:13):
considered, I was like you knowwhat this is?
This is what I wanted.
I wanted to do better and Iwant to have a better experience
and I wanted to train better,and I did all the things I said
I was going to do.
And I kept the promise of mypromises to myself.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Yeah, do you find it interesting how the best of the
best athletes, like the peoplethat really want big things, how
we always feel like we'rebehind, like I heard that once I
think it was like a trendingaudio on Instagram where it's
like the best people always feellike they're just a step behind
and so we work harder andharder, which again could be a
double-edged sword if?
(17:41):
it turns into burnout or itturns into something great.
But like it's just sointeresting to me of how we
always feel that and so, knowingthat I'm like okay, I have to
be really good about how am Icelebrating myself, even just
like the small wins here orthere.
Also, am I, am I in balance?
Like?
balance and racing and eliteathletics.
(18:02):
It's like it's never going tobe 50, 50.
It's always going to be likeit's race season, it's 90, 10,
right, or hey, it's off season.
We need to go back and have alittle bit of fun and sort of
pick up, you know, on, maybewhere we left off on other
things in life.
But yeah, it's just steppinginto.
Elite athletics has been reallyinteresting.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
That's great and you know I'm curious, like I know
you talked a little bit aboutkind of the process and the
habits, um, and those steps toget to becoming an elite athlete
, but like, mentally, what else?
What made you believe you couldeven do that?
Like what made you I don't evenknow if it's a question that
made you believe maybe why doyou have the desire?
Maybe that's a different way ofasking it.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Yeah, Well again, when I first started my weight
loss journey, I was like I wouldlove to look better, I'd love
to fit into my clothes again,and I think that's why majority
of people do it Right.
At least why they start at leastwhy they start it has
everything to do with aestheticsand like, while like your
clothes fitting better and allthat is like fine and dandy,
that number on the scale.
Again, it's kind of likestanding on top of the podium.
(19:04):
That excitement lasts for twoseconds and then what are you
left with?
And so the big shift for me andthis is when I went from just
losing weight to getting intoNinja Warrior was I want to see
what I'm capable of actuallydoing, and so at first it was a
lot of like I don't, I don'tdream big, I just want to try.
And it was from there on out.
It's realizing like you're nevergoing to feel a hundred percent
(19:26):
ready.
People think that you have tohave all these titles and
accolades in order to go outthere and do the thing, when in
fact, no one actually really hasthose when they first start,
and so they have to startsomewhere.
And so like, well, where'd youget the confidence?
It's like you don't ever haveit.
It's just you have to go andactually do it and be brave
enough to try and realize that,regardless, it's a win-win,
(19:49):
because you're either going tolearn something or you're going
to maybe gain a really coolresult.
It's never like you failed.
So I think it was justaccumulation of all that, but
mostly it was that mindset shiftof like aesthetics versus what
it is that I want to be capableof doing, and I just kept a
really open heart and an openmind and I think in just in life
it's really important to dothat because I thought that I
(20:10):
was going to go all the way andyou know this career that I was
in before I stepped into fitness, like I left my corporate job,
I yeah, there's a whole storythere during covid guys national
pandemic I'm like I'm going toleave my six figure job to go
start a business in health andwellness because I see people of
the world right now and theyneed love.
That was that was terrifying.
That's a whole differentconversation.
(20:33):
But I thought I was going to goall the way in Ninja.
I thought I was going to go hita buzzer on the television show
and then, out of nowhere,hybrid racing between Spartan
and DECA came into my life andit was totally unexpected.
I wasn't looking for it, but itwas everything that I needed.
So you might as well just tryanyways and see what you can
accomplish.
And B, just let the universehelp you.
Be open and willing to thethings that are coming into your
(21:03):
awareness, that maybe you'reover here trying to jiggle the
handle on a door that's beenlocked for years.
That door might not be meantfor you, and so I think about
you right with half marathon andall these things.
I think we were talking aboutthis before we press play on the
podcast.
It's like I really want toaccomplish set things, but like
what if there's this whole otherworld of opportunity over here
that you just have your back to,when you just need to be like,
(21:23):
take a deep breath, I'm going topause and just let what's going
to come to me come to me?
You know, it's such a powerfulway to navigate life when you
just are open to what's to comeand you're like well, let's just
get curious, let's get creative, and it takes the pressure out
(21:43):
of it completely, Cause you'renot like gripping so tight onto
this one goal.
It's like I trust that theuniverse has my back and it's
going to take me exactly where Ineed to go and I'm just going
to learn the lessons and knowthat I can do whatever it is
that comes for me on the otherside.
I can handle whatever it is.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.
I love that.
And you know, one of the thingsyou mentioned was just kind of
about like how we talk toourselves and I've been thinking
about this a lot lately and youknow, coach Kevin actually
asked me this before, rightbefore my last race he goes.
So you know what are the thingsthat you kind of repeat to
yourself or you say to yourself,a little bit like affirmations,
which I used to do, and I needto get back into it because I
(22:16):
thought it was really helpfuland I was like gosh, I didn't
really think too too much aboutit, but here's some of the
things that that you know I saidto myself.
So I shared that with him, andthen at the race, they were
making bracelets and you couldwrite on those bracelets right.
You can write on the braceletswhatever it is that you want.
So I'm like I'm going to writewhat it is that Kevin and I had
talked about.
So that's been helpful for me.
(22:38):
I'd be interested to hear ifthat's been helpful for you and
if you've been doing that for awhile, Like during the race,
when it gets hard, like do youhave just something in your mind
that you should just kind ofsay to yourself to get you
through?
Speaker 3 (22:48):
It's funny.
So I used to take a Sharpie,like all last season and I did
this during World Championshipstoo and I put it on my arm,
because the two moments whereyou're questioning your life
during a race is on the bike andon the tank, and then after
that you're just moving so likeerratically on the burpees that
you're like I don't know.
I just want to be done so like I.
I purposely put it there sothat in any moment if I had like
(23:10):
some sort of doubt or negativeself talk, I could look down and
see it.
So I'm very big on like thevisual, like quick cues, and I
want to say like the three wordsthat I've had that were the
more impactful one, um was trust, cause trust is something as an
athlete that I feel like.
That's where I'm at right nowand that's what coach Kevin has
actually brought to my life.
A lot is giving me what feelslike the most impossible
(23:34):
training plan and then showingmyself that I can do it and
being like, okay, if I can dothat, I can definitely do this
for 12 minutes you know.
So I need to just go out there,trust my training and do what I
know how to do.
Just let it turn on.
Another one I've had on my armis celebrate, because I really
believe that's what this is allabout, and it's one of the
reasons why I love DECA as anorganization is because this is
all about earning your mark andcelebrating fitness.
(23:54):
I made a decision a few yearsago to completely change my life
, and so I'm just always sograteful every time I get to
step up to the starting block ofa ninja course or to, you know,
the reverse lunges on the DECAcourse, because it's just
another opportunity for me toshow up for myself and then just
, of course, just straight upgratitude right, like gratitude,
(24:14):
I feel like, is something thatgets missed so often.
But definitely those littletools and this is something I
really wanted to share with thepodcast group today is one of
the mental things that hasreally shifted for me lately.
Kind of goes along the lines ofhow you view yourself.
But my boyfriend and I wererecently talking about this Do
you listen to Sally McRae andher podcast at all?
(24:34):
So, listeners, another funpodcast, because I assume we all
like to share podcasts witheach other.
Nick Bear recently just did aguest interview with Sally McRae
and she's an ultra runner andshe's fantastic like has amazing
documentaries on YouTube.
Really big fan of her.
But I got this idea from her.
But it's we wait to act likethe champion until we have the
(24:55):
title when?
Why don't we just show up likethe champion until we have the
title when?
Why don't we just show up asthe champion today?
If you want to be the champion,you have to show up as that
person now and you have to thinklike, how do I train like a
champion?
How do I sleep like a champion?
How do I eat?
Like what do champions do andhow can I do that?
That's realistic and applicableto my life, and that's one
thing.
That's.
The phase that I'm in right nowis like I'm showing up to this
(25:18):
race tomorrow Like I've alreadywon the world championships and
am I physically there?
I don't know.
Maybe, I don't know, I couldshock myself tomorrow and do
something absolutely insane,like set a world record.
I'm not worried about that.
I'm worried about puttingmyself in the space of like, how
does Kayla the champion thinkabout this?
How would she approach this racetomorrow, even if I'm not
(25:39):
totally physically there yet, ifI'm mentally there, I have no
doubt that I'm going to crossthat finish line A, which is
really important, but B, thatI'm going to do something really
incredible on the other side.
So that's what I would say forthe listeners If you're trying
to get past or go to that nextstep, or just have something
mentally positive in the daysleading up to the race, think
(26:00):
about how does fill in the blankyour name, the champion,
approach this race?
How do they do certain thingsand show up as that person now
rather than when you actuallyhave the title, Cause who knows
when that actually will happen.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
So I love it.
Yeah, I love it.
And since you shared yours,I'll share mine.
So I've been listening to verypopular public speaker.
So on my long runs I'mlistening to podcasts and I've
been listening to it for a while, but I've never used it myself.
But his phrase was I can, I will, I must, and I love it.
(26:38):
And I actually put thatparticular episode of that
speech that he gives like onreplay.
So every once in a while itpops back in and it's a reminder
for me.
So when Kevin asked me, I'mlike that's what came to mind
and that's what I said to myselfkind of during the race.
And I'm like and I realizedthis, if I look back to the
races, the attitude that I haveabout the race, going into the
(26:58):
race and during, has been athere's been a really good
correlation to how I perform.
Like if I go in thinking I cando this, I will certainly do a
lot better than if I have anegative attitude about the race
, like I didn't train properlyor this hurts.
We're just talking about youknow, we're talking about
certain things that are kind ofbothering us, right, but if I
(27:21):
have that negative attitude,then more than likely that's
excuse me, that's going to holdme back from, you know, really
doing well, so really performingwell, so anyway, so that's,
that's mine.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Yeah, I love that.
Oh, so good.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
So you know I kind that, oh so good.
So you know, kind of, as wewind down here, I'd love to hear
a little bit about what wouldyou say was your biggest
obstacle during your journey andhow'd you overcome it?
Speaker 3 (27:48):
Well, I can tell you what my biggest obstacle is
right now, and I think Imentioned a lot around the trust
piece.
Like tomorrow, I feel soconfident in the plan and what I
need to execute that I knowthat I'm going to do well
tomorrow, whether again, it'slike a world record breaking
time or whether it's just, youknow, like a couple seconds off
my time, I feel so confident inthat.
(28:10):
So the trust thing is actuallywe're on the up and up on that
one.
But one thing that I've noticedas of recently especially again
when you start to get to thebest of the best is you start to
obsess over what the other bestof the best are doing, right,
cause they say, well, if youwant to be this person, you
gotta do exactly what they'redoing, and I agree with that to
a standpoint.
I think you obviously have tofind your brand and what works
(28:31):
for you and your season of life.
Um, but honestly, it's it's thecomparison.
That's one thing that I feellike even back then that I was
really struggling with is justoh, this girl's back looks so
shredded, which is so dumb,right, and I want my back to
look like that, but how manywomen like think about those
things Right, and I have toimagine men probably go through
those things too.
So it's really just the thecomparison piece, um.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
I can either confirm nor deny that part.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
That part happens and you're asking you know how do I
get over it?
I think you just have to startwith giving yourself grace A
because one.
Everyone does it.
And the better you get at thismental stuff, you realize it
never actually goes away.
That was actually probably oneof the biggest lessons that I've
learned in life is like thesethoughts that are negative.
They don't ever go away.
You just get really good atbeing able to say, oh, pause,
(29:20):
kind of politely, call myselfout, appreciate that, let's
unpack that a little bit.
But then let's put that where itneeds to be, which is in the
non-serving category, and let'sflip the script a little bit and
think about what's going toserve me.
So I think that's the best wayto overcome any obstacle.
Right is can you pause in themoment, can you become
reflective, can you be gentleand kind to yourself around the
(29:42):
fact that you had the thoughtand it's okay, you're not crazy,
you're not wrong.
You just need to unpack it alittle bit and give yourself the
time to think about well, whereis this coming from?
Is it a consistent trigger?
Is it something that I need to,like you know, go and seek
additional work on, additionalhelp on and then take the next
best step from there right.
And that next best step canlook so different from moment to
(30:03):
moment and time to time, and itdoesn't mean it's always the
right step, but it's a step.
It's better than doingabsolutely nothing at all.
So for anyone that's facing anobstacle, pause, reflect, give
yourself graciousness and thentake the next best step that you
possibly can.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
All right, sage advice for our listeners.
I love this conversation.
I love everything that youshare.
I'd love to hear you know haveyou share a little bit about
your podcast, your fellowpodcast host?
So share a little bit aboutyour podcast and the health and
wellness business that you havegoing on.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I sort of mentioned that Imade this big transition from
corporate to owning a business.
That was a really big decision.
I was with my corporate job asa professional recruiter for
about four years was supersuccessful.
I had all the money and theaccolades.
And during COVID you started torealize like whoa, this is
(30:58):
where I'm at, this is how Iactually feel.
Things got really quiet andyou're like whoa, I need to
change something here.
And so I just came to realizethat I was living this life that
people would define successful,but I didn't define as
successful, and so success forme was impact and wanting to do
something that was much greaterthan myself and giving back in
(31:20):
that way.
And so, after I had lost abunch of weight, I was like it'd
be so cool to be able to helpother people do the same thing,
and so that's where I started myown business, did that for a
couple of years.
Now I work for um, a recreationcenter and a ninja facility, so
I do a lot of personal training, yada, yada.
But the podcast weaved itself inthere right when I left my job
and I was thinking about how canI allow for people during this
(31:43):
time of the pandemic, like whenwe're at home, we're depressed
because we can't have any socialinteraction.
People are like way too closeto their fridge and pantry so
they're gaining weight likecrazy and they're not taking on
healthy habits.
Like how can I truly impactthem?
And it started off with everyTuesday I would go on to
Facebook and Instagram and Iwould do a live video, and Taco
(32:05):
about a Tuesday was the name ofthe series then, and I would
bring a healthy, delicious tacorecipe because I was like well,
everyone loves tacos, I lovetacos, and it's Tuesday, so
let's talk about tacos and Italk about something in relation
to life, right, Like a lessonor things that people were
asking me questions on as ahealth coach, and so that's how
it got started.
And so I did that for about ayear and I realized I feel like
(32:28):
I could have more of an impactif I got off the social and I
start to do this more on like apodcasting platform.
So started that about two and ahalf three years ago and we're
still running strong For all mylisteners that are listening.
You know we're goofy, we say alot of crazy things, but it's a
conversation around life, alwaysLike I'm very genuine and open
(32:48):
with the stories and the thingsthat I'm going through.
I literally plan my podcast asI'm like going through it.
Like as we sit down and we talk, it's just what am I going
through in life and how can Igive back to help you better
navigate what it is that you'regoing through.
So it's a good, good fun thingthat I do.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Love it.
Yeah, love it Well.
Congrats on your three years asa podcast host and your
transition into the health andwellness space, and everything
that you've accomplished.
Yes, thank you so much Allright, so I'm going to put your
information in the show notes tomake it easy for everyone to
find your podcast and follow youonline.
And again, I just want to thankyou for coming on the show and
sharing your story with all ofour listeners.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
Thank you so much for having meStoked to be here.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
All right, have a good day you too, that's it for
this episode of Inspired to RunPodcast.
That's it for this episode ofInspired to Run Podcast.
We hope you are inspired totake control of your health and
fitness and take it to the nextlevel.
Be sure to click the subscribebutton to join our community and
also please rate and review.
Thanks for listening.
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