Yesterday, I received an email that made my heart soar. I am always appreciative of the emails I receive as a Race Director because if someone takes the time in their busy lives to reach out. What they have to say is important. I also know of all the times I have really enjoyed a race and kept that thought to myself. So again, if you hear from someone then you know it is important. And the positive words resonate louder.
But, yesterday’s correspondence was about the Sole Sisters TalkHER podcast. This is a new project that only came about because of the pandemic and the resulting decimation of our Sole Sisters in-person events. Without the ability to gather in large groups Sole Sisters Women’s Race went VIRTUAL last year. For 2021, we have four virtual races.
However, as a Race Director and a Coach I truly miss the ability to interact with girls and women. Part of my coaching has always involved telling stories and sharing what I’ve learned over the years. Since I am now 50 and have been racing non-stop since I was 17 years young, I have a lot of stories. And the medium of podcasting allows me to keep sharing what I know.
As a women’s only event I have often played with the terms walkHER and runHER and now I am adding something new to the lexicon: talkHER! The Sole Sisters talkHER podcast looks to educate, entertain and motivate its listeners to BE THE INSPIRATION. And since I feel the best way to consume a podcast is actively doing something like walking, jogging or running the stories will initially include those activities. But, I have recently discovered that puzzling to a podcast is also amazing. Did you know that 8 million Canadian adults (27% of the 18+ population) listen to podcasts at least once a month?
Anyway, back to that email. I want to share a snippet of it here because the Sole Sister that sent it let some of what we say in episode six on confidence really sink in and affect her thought regarding an upcoming race.
“Wanted to let you know how great the confidence podcast was! And, timely! Last Friday, we heard of the Nova Scotia Remembers race [registration link and details below] on April 18th. On our rainy Friday afternoon long run, we decided to go for it and run the half marathon. Our biggest fear however, is that we’d have a slow and embarrassing finish time. I just sent her this podcast! We can’t magically get much faster in 3 weeks but we can totally run it knowing we will finish and finish strong- regardless of the chip time! And, we’ll run as best we can right NOW!”
You can listen to the first six episodes of Sole Sisters TalkHER now on your preferred listening platforms of Apple Podcasts, Anchor, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic and Spotify. Once you find us on your preferred podcast platform, subscribe /like/follow us so you get all our future episodes.
If you don’t already know, here is a link and information on the Nova Scotia Remembers Memorial Race:
“Join us on April 18th as we honour our friends and neighbours who were taken too soon from our quiet rural Nova Scotian communities. Walk or Run a 5k/10k/Half/Full Marathon in memory of those lives lost on April 18/19 2020. Races will be held in and around Truro and Colchester on April 18, 2021 or virtually from your own course.”
For those considering the marathon race, every effort is being made now to ensure it will be an Athletics Canada Certified Course which would allow it to be included as a 2021 Boston Qualifier (“BQ”). However, since registration for the 2021 Boston Marathon opens two days after our race it cannot be guaranteed for use this year.
