I Could Never Do That

Here are just a few athletic accomplishments from today's guest Deanna McCurdy: Six national championships, Four Pan-Am championships, 5th overall at ITU Cross Worlds, she's finished as the top American female and 4th overall twice at the XTERRA World Championships. USA Triathlon awarded her Off-road Triathlete of the Year honors in 2017, 2018, and 2021.  In 2019, she competed as a Pro (at age 45)...

Ashley Brush was born and raised in a strict, religious upbringing and, by her early 20s, she was married, with a young son, and was also a stepmother to two other children. At this time, because she was playing by a strict set of rules,  she says she had no idea who she really was because she was so young and never gave herself an opportunity to find out. Resentment and depression were the norms,...

In this episode of "I Could Never Do That," I "shake" things up a bit to take a self-indulgent and celebratory walk down "memory lane."  Think back to when you were 13, 14, or 15. What or who just lit your world on fire and made you believe that "Anything is Possible?" Was it a book? A Teacher? A Relative? A First Love? Was it a song, athlete, or artist that took hold and sent you on a journey of...

Dan Leite is a long-time runner, multiple marathon and IRONMAN triathlon finisher, and recipient of a heart transplant recipient in 2015. His symptoms began in 2011 at the peak of his running and his condition, although treated with medication, continued to deteriorate until he was granted the ultimate gift in December 2015. His life ultimately was saved by the heart of a stranger, but the impact...

Spencer Newell is a music writer, producer, health coach, trainer, author, and longtime endurance athlete.  He has certainly run the gamut in his 43 years - growing up as a high-level endurance athlete, battling a crippling addiction to drugs and alcohol, seeking treatment and finding sobriety, diving headfirst back into endurance sports, and unfortunately succumbing to overtraining syndrome not o...

Dawn Mussallem was in medical school when she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Treatment was successful but eventually, Dr. Mussallem, who works at Mayo Clinic in Florida, began experiencing heart failure. She had a defibrillator implanted and went through myriad procedures as she navigated her medical career. As her heart worsened, she was listed for a heart transplant and on Feb. 5, 2021, "the...

A musician and teacher by day and potato pusher by night! This is the story of Alison James, CEO of Sports Spuds. Tired of constantly feeling sick and nauseous during her marathons and races, Alison heeded the advice of a nutritionist and tried boiled potatoes - BAM!! Success! The only problem? They were messy and not portable, especially when you're reaching into your baggie with dirty hands. For...

Tracey Hulick is a plant-based ultrarunner who, at the young age of 12, became inspired to donate her kidney to a stranger.  Upon hearing a story of someone whose life was saved from a living donor, Tracey was also determined to save the lives of strangers, which she did in 2017 when she donated one of her kidneys. This also led to her creating a nonprofit and global community at kidneydonorathlet...

Lisa Hesse is a Life and Wellness Coach for Athletes. Her job is to literally change the limiting beliefs of her clients and release them from the, "I Could Nevers." She is passionate about helping women across the wellness continuum find and celebrate their best selves while unleashing their own superpowers of joyful living. Questions we explore today: What limiting beliefs do you hold onto What...

Anthony Masiello is co-founder and CEO of Plant Based TeleHealth , which provides medical care for patients who have chronic disease and other medical conditions, including, but not limited to, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, obesity, autoimmune diseases, inflammation, and digestive issues. These conditions are addressed through lifestyle medicine—the powerful, evid...

Today, I take a dive deep on a topic that is so, so important to me. Performance as a Plant-Based athlete. I hear all of the time from friends and fellow athletes who want to increase their knowledge and education around a plant-based diet and put it into practice in their training or on the racecourse. Today I'm speaking with Certified Sports Nutritionist Elizabeth Inpyn - she has a Masters of Sc...

  Are you doing work you love? Are you waking up with purpose? Are you doing work that matters to you? Most, unfortunately, are not. In fact, in 2020, a whopping 65% of employees were already thinking of leaving their jobs - this was pre-pandemic.  Author, Career Coach, Radio Host and Podcaster, Ken Coleman, discusses his latest book, From Paycheck to Purpose - The Clear Path to Doing Work You Lov...

Melissa Sundermann, DO, dipABLM, is board-certified in internal medicine. Dr. Sundermann has clinical interest in chronic disease management and preventive medicine through a Lifestyle Medicine approach. Lifestyle Medicine is a specialty of medicine that emphasizes increased physical activity, healthful whole food plant-based nutrition goals, improving sleep quality, avoiding risky substances, str...

  Betsy Hartley is an ultrarunner, health coach, and author of the book, "All Bets Are Off - My Journey of Losing 200 Pounds, A Showdown with Diabetes, and Falling in Love with Running." Today, she discusses how her rock bottom actually became her escape hatch to become absurdly brave. Cover excerpt: "From insulin shots to ultrarunning, Betsy shares, in her honest and often humorous way, the stori...

  Julieanna Hever, also known as the Plant-Based Dietitian, has helped thousands of people lose weight and achieve optimal health by following a plant-based diet. Today, she discusses her journey from actress to plant-based educator, author, and podcaster and how this role bridges her three biggest passions for food, performing, and helping people. Julieanna has written six books and her seventh,...

Today's episode has quite the emotional arc — from this couple's romantic adventure to becoming scrappy accidental entrepreneurs, and going from near-business COVID collapse to redemption and rebirth…Plus, a new book, Venture , that explains it all in witty, thrilling, head-shaking detail.  At the heart of it all? A love of running. I'm talking today to Allison Macsas and Gabe Steger - founders of...

Megan Marie Myers is a painter, illustrator, and native Oregonian. After attending art school in Seattle, Megan took a position in Seattle at Chihuly Studio where her job was to coordinate the logistics of creating and installing full-scale gallery exhibitions of Dale Chihuly's artwork, as well as private commissions of large-scale glass and steel art installations for public and private clients w...

An early pioneer of nutrition-first wellness, Dawn Russell has been chasing simpler solutions for getting your daily greens since 2001, after a stage three cancer diagnosis in her mid-twenties set her on a path to find alternative solutions that might speed her recovery. Unable to receive radiation or chemotherapy due to a rare bone infection that left her immune system compromised, she tried coun...

Paige Davis is an author, meditation teacher, and entrepreneur. She, along with her sister, are the founders of Pebbl , a lifestyle brand providing a curated gateway to presence and wellbeing. Through their programming, collaborations, and products, they hope you'll find all the support you need to anchor the light within. The first Pebbl products, the Starter Kit and Sanctuary, feature a portable...

Coach Gilbert Tuhabonye has been leading the Gilbert's Gazelles running group since 2002. It's a group that encompasses all ages, goals, paces, and fitness levels. All are drawn to Gilbert, not just for the promise of getting faster or getting your BQ time (which trust me - can and does happen frequently), but people are drawn to Gilbert because of his smile, magnetic personality, and the inspirat...

Forty-six-year-old, Keri Shaw, discusses her recent clinical diagnosis of Young Onset Parkinson's Disease.  It's a disease known mostly by its outward symptoms - tremors, rigidity of muscles, speech difficulty, and more, but, unless they're personally affected in some way, the layperson knows little about the "why" or "how" of the disease, especially in younger people. In this raw conversation, Ke...

Let's start an online travel magazine in the middle of a global pandemic! Sounds brilliant, right? Well, it turns out, it was brilliant and today I talk to the three female founders of the brand new Austin Travels Magazine .  Pam LeBlanc, Mauri Elbel, and Kristin Finan — three journalists with a shared passion for travel and exploration, and all coming at this project from a vastly different lens....

Sara Gross is a two-time IRONMAN Champion and holds a doctorate in women's history. She founded Live Feisty Media as a way to celebrate fresh and empowered voices in triathlon and beyond. We can dream of owning a business or starting something big, but many get stuck in the "I Could Nevers" when it comes to actually doing it. Sara shares fantastic advice and her athletic mindset around doing the w...

Both Stewart Gill and Kyle Klinger swore they would never be on a reality TV show until, that is, they were approached, auditioned, and ultimately cast on Season 1 of Labor of Love on Fox as two of the 15 bachelors vying for the attention of one single woman seeking motherhood.  It sounds like a crazy premise, doesn't it? Who in the would say, 'yes' to something like this? That's what I wanted to...

There are those people with whom you come in contact in life and you know INSTANTLY, they're going to have a lasting impact. I'm lucky that my guest today, Selene Yeager, came into my life when she did. Selene is a journalistic legend and consummate role model especially for those in the health and fitness space. Her work has appeared in numerous media including Bicycling, Details, Shape, O, the O...