Amy Schweim, today’s guest lives in Oaxaca, Mexico where she guides single and multi-day trips, there and in Spain and Peru. Her business, Women’s Radical Pursuits, combines mountain biking, yoga, and mindfulness designed to inspire and empower women through adventure travel trips.
How she got to here, from being a school teacher in the States, is a great story with a couple catalysts; one of them being heartbreak.
Amy is proof that periods of difficulty can lead to a higher trajectory. It reminds me of this awesome quote from Ariana Huffington:
“I have an incredible trust in life. One of my favorite quotes is a little misquote: ‘Live life as though everything is rigged in your favor.’ I really profoundly believe that whatever has happened in my life, including the biggest heartbreaks, the biggest disappointments, was exactly what was needed to help me get to the next stage of my own personal evolution and growth. I always had a sense of that, but now I believe that so profoundly. I can literally see the hidden blessing in every bad thing that happened.”
With that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next:
Resources
Where to Find Amy
Sarah Rawley races pro in the enduro circuit, is the co-founder of Colorado’s first women’s only mountain bike race, the Yeti Beti Bike Bash, and the VIDA MTB Series, a women's mountain bike clinic. She also has a full time job with Yeti Cycles. In case you didn’t have time to get that “thing” done, I think your excuses have just been removed by Sarah’s display of Type a level achievement.
What I love about Sarah is she is a woman on a mission. A mission to grow the mountain bike community and get women into racing and mountain biking. She is that person who makes ideas happen. You might be sitting around with Sarah and casually suggest, “ we should have a mountain bike clinic for women,” and she says, “OK, let’s do it. and she does.”
We talk about launching a ideas. Overcoming challenges. We tackle other topics like partnering with the right people and knowing your strengths. Not only in work but in life. She wraps up by sharing with us aspiring to be better riders on how to use a safe profession to build your skills.
Lots of good stuff today to let’s listen in and get up for what’s next:
Resources and where to find Sarah:
Rider to Racer registration
Sarah on Instagram
My favorite subject, food! is on the docket for today.
The last time I did a big race which for me is 25k trail mountain run, I posted on instagram (are you following me on instagram by the way?) a photo of my favorite recovery meal - Hammer Nutrition Recoverite drink, strawberry flavored, and cheddar cheese flavored Kettle Chips. Today, we’ll learn why that’s not such an awesome idea, in case you thought it was. Meredith is a sports nutritionist and an ultra athlete, in fact she competes in the Ultra Man in November - essentially a three day double ironman. Day 1 is a 10k swim and 91 mile bike, day 2 is 170 mile bike and day 3 is a double marathon. That’s over 52 miles of running on the last day.
She has a lot of great advice for those of us aspiring to improve performance or simply feel better. Time management for training is a big one. She shares her system that she and her husband have found work well for them. It’s like having a baby and you need to divvy up the chores. Lastly, she walks us through an approach to finding what works for you - throw those fad diets out the door - and how to think about nutrition during different phases of your training.
With that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next
Resources:
Where to find Meredith:
Liam Fitzgerald’s former job sets the bar for stressful job. He was the lead avalanche forecaster for the Utah Department of Transportation (and the Little Cottonwood Canyon Highway - you know, the road that leads up to Alta and Snowbird). Every day, he decides whether it’s safe enough for the public to drive up the highway.
Curious what it’s like to do that job? What goes into keeping us safe as we drive highways through mountains without giving it a second thought? Then listen on because I’m excited to have Liam with us today. You’ll find articles on Liam in New York Times. Powder Magazine, puts him in the category of iconic figures who defined skiing.
He has a fascinating life story how he sort of happened into this industry, and kept getting jobs he wasn’t qualified for but worked himself into it. (not the UDOT job, don’t worry.)
Hope you have fun listening to the many stories.