#096 - How do you come back from a diagnosis or injury that prevents you from being active? Get ready to be moved by the exhilarating journey of our guest Deanna Blegg, Australia's leading female adventure racer and the creative mind behind Bleggmit.
We promise you a front-row seat to her indomitable spirit, from her humble beginnings as a swimmer, scaling the heights of her first triathlon win in 1984, to representing Australia in the Commonwealth Games. Deanna opens up about her battle with illness and how it rekindled her passion for sports, culminating in her triumphant return to the field post a radical abdominal hysterectomy in 2016.
Topics Covered:
Deanna’s journey into adventure racing and obstacle course racing
Rekindled passion for sports after a life-altering diagnosis and recovery
How Deanna turned a racing hurdle into an inventive solution
How Bleggmit is revolutionizing outdoor sports
Today’s Guest
Deanna Blegg
Deanna is a mother, HIV and AIDS survivor, breast cancer survivor and adventure racer, obstacle racer, and CrossFit athlete. Deanna won the overall women’s title in the 2013 World’s Toughest Mudder, a 24-hour obstacle racing event where competitors run continuous 5-mile loops in an attempt to complete as many miles as possible. She is also the inventor of the BleggMit, a lightweight neoprene glove designed for cold-weather races.
“Inspire to Run Podcast is truly inspiring!” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — move toward the healthy life that they desire. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
#096 - How do you come back from a diagnosis or injury that prevents you from being active? Get ready to be moved by the exhilarating journey of our guest Deanna Blegg, Australia's leading female adventure racer and the creative mind behind Bleggmit.
We promise you a front-row seat to her indomitable spirit, from her humble beginnings as a swimmer, scaling the heights of her first triathlon win in 1984, to representing Australia in the Commonwealth Games. Deanna opens up about her battle with illness and how it rekindled her passion for sports, culminating in her triumphant return to the field post a radical abdominal hysterectomy in 2016.
Topics Covered:
Deanna’s journey into adventure racing and obstacle course racing
Rekindled passion for sports after a life-altering diagnosis and recovery
How Deanna turned a racing hurdle into an inventive solution
How Bleggmit is revolutionizing outdoor sports
Today’s Guest
Deanna Blegg
Deanna is a mother, HIV and AIDS survivor, breast cancer survivor and adventure racer, obstacle racer, and CrossFit athlete. Deanna won the overall women’s title in the 2013 World’s Toughest Mudder, a 24-hour obstacle racing event where competitors run continuous 5-mile loops in an attempt to complete as many miles as possible. She is also the inventor of the BleggMit, a lightweight neoprene glove designed for cold-weather races.
“Inspire to Run Podcast is truly inspiring!” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — move toward the healthy life that they desire. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Hi, my friend. Are you currently dealing with an illness or physical challenges preventing you from running? Well, today you will hear a very personal story from Deanna Blagg, australia's top female adventure racer and founder of Blaggmit, about what she went through during her diagnosis and treatment, why she put competing on the back burner for a period of time, and what eventually sparked a fire in her to become active again in the world of sports. Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to Inspire to Run Podcast. Here you will find inspiration, Whether you are looking to take control of your health and fitness or you are a seasoned runner looking for community and some extra motivation. You will hear inspiring stories from amazing runners, along with helpful tips from fitness experts. Now here is your host, Richard Connor.
Speaker 1:
Hi everyone, welcome to Inspire to Run Podcast. Today we are sitting down with Deanna Blagg. Deanna's running career includes triathlons, trail running, adventure racing and obstacle course racing. Deanna has two children. She is based in Australia and is the founder of Blaggmit. Welcome to the show, Deanna.
Speaker 3:
Thanks so much, Richard. Thanks for having me aboard today.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I am excited to talk to you. You know, it is a really interesting story how we met. So a good friend of mine, who is also in the obstacle course racing run, which is something I have been doing for a few years now, heard me kind of complaining about oh my goodness, I am running out in the cold and my hands are cold and what should I do as far as gloves. She is like you really should try these blig mints. I am like what is that? And I got a pair, but it was at the end of the season so I have not tried them out yet, but I am super excited when winter comes back around to try them.
Speaker 3:
So that is how I learned about Deanna, and I am so excited to connect with you here. Thanks so much for the opportunity.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, for sure. I think you are probably the longest distance guest that I have had on the show. I think being in Australia qualifies you for that, so that is super cool that we are able to connect so far away. So let us get into the conversation and just learn a little bit more about you and your running journey.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, sure, I guess my running. Actually I started actually as a swimmer back when I was very young. I had asthma and back then they suggested swimming was very good for asthma. So I did start swimming, I think, when I was six or seven, and really loved it, and I think that was a great base for me for everything I have done in the future. It is just to do sport at such a young age just builds your lung capacity, your body's ability to work and, being a swimmer as well, it is not so much stress. It is stressful for your body, which is good, but it is not so much impact and there is less chance of injury, especially through your growing years.
Speaker 3:
So I swam probably six or seven years and reached, whilst I was a good swimmer, I was never like an elite swimmer. I was good at it, but I only made it to sort of state level and it did not really take me further. And that is when I found running. I remember in my grade six cross country. I had not done any running training, but we just did the cross country and I won outright out of the whole school. It was a small school, though, and from then I went to the zones and one in the zones and went to the state and one in the state. So I obviously had a natural ability for running and, backed with all those years in the pool and developing strength and lung capacity, put that together and then sort of set me in my place, I guess, for running. And through those years I did well and I was never the greatest runner in Australia but I did. I could compete at a serious level.
Speaker 3:
By the time I reached 14 or 15. I started hearing of these events called aquathons, and aquathons were swim, no run, swim, run. So you run 5K, you swim I can't even remember about a kilometre and then you run 5K and that to me suited me perfectly because I was a swimmer and a runner. So I did very well in that event. And then another year or so later, I heard of triathlons and this is back in 1984 and it was just beginning here in Australia and I didn't have a biking background. We lived in a place called the Basin, on Mountain Highway. There was no side of the roads it was going. You know, it's a mountainous place where I lived and we weren't allowed to have bikes as kids because it was too dangerous, because we had a hilly property and there was no powers, it was just hill and roads. So I Like the idea of the triathlon. But I meant getting a bike. I was 14 or 15 by then, so you know my mom obviously, when I begged her to do it, she's said alright, and so I got on the bike and started learning to ride a bike.
Speaker 3:
I did my first triathlon in 1984 and I won the women's section and I think I was. I was very high up place in the men and I guess For me as an athlete I'm never specifically great at one event, but I'm good, I'm a good all-rounder and that's where sort of I progressed in the triathlon field and I raced up until the age I was about 23, represented Australia and the Commonwealth Games. But it became like triathlons. When I first started it was fun. It was, you know, a lot of people, it's all a new sport, lots of energy, lots of connections. And then over the years became a bit more serious and a bit more political and the love for me went like. I lost my love for the sport and just thought what am I doing this for? By that age I was around 20 or 21. You know I've done it for a few years by then at a very competitive level, and I sort of just went up. That's it, I'm done. So I dropped that and then took up adventure, more adventure sports. So there was at back in the 1990s now there were mountain bikes around and no suspension, they were just rigid, fully rigid bikes. So I played around on the mountain bikes, did some lots of outdoor adventure sports, as opposed to the strict regime of triathlon training From there in.
Speaker 3:
When I was about 23, I left and traveled the world for a couple of years and Came back and I you know it's a bit of a mess when I came back I'd gone through a few traumatic, I guess, experiences when I was traveling and I arrived back home and I was 25 and a half and had to rebuild my life and rebuild my health and you know I didn't think I would ever reconnect with sport again. But due to yeah, you know, to type past and Like fast forward, I guess, another 10 or 15 years, like there was a whole chunk in my life where sport, the sport, wasn't even a part of my life and I rediscovered it again in my late 30s when I saw a sign for an adventure race and I'm like this. You know, this got my Instantly excited. I saw this and I just I thought, wow, this looks amazing. What is it? It was a 1.5 kilometer swima 16 kilometer paddle, a, I think, 30k mountain bike and a 15 or 16k run. And it's just like my life. It just hit me.
Speaker 3:
I couldn't stop thinking about this event and the just Rekindled an energy that I'd lost and that I thought I'd never find again. And Like every day whenever I thought about this event, I got this russ of rush of adrenaline through my body and I thought to myself you know, I can win this. I Didn't have a paddling at that stage, like a surf ski paddling background, but you know, it's one of those things you don't have. You sort of learn to do.
Speaker 3:
And it wasn't the first year I went in the event. I came seventh in the women, but I was so much a beginner, I'd hide a bike, I'd hide a boat and you know, just Muck muddled my way through the event. But I knew, I knew deep down that I could get there Fast forward another year and I did the event again and I won it and then I sort of just went. I was 38, 39 and I just went on this like my body was at this peak level fitness and I just loved adventure racing. I loved everything it bought. So I just yeah, I just started traveling and around the world doing these races and it's just yeah, fabulous.
Speaker 1:
I appreciate you sharing that and I'm really curious about you know what reconnected you to sports, because you know we find that happens quite often, where you know if we were athletic or in sports early on, we take a break for one reason or another and Something draws us back. Yes, so you know, I'm very curious about you, know what was happening in your life or what were you thinking about, where you saw that race and it instantly had a connection, because I'm assuming that those races and sports have been there the whole time, but it must have been something that was that you were thinking about or going through that made you know, I guess, made you more aware of that race.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, look, I at that time I'd had by then two children and I'd I'd been very unwell. And go look back back, track a little bit. Back in 1994, 95, I was diagnosed with HIV and Back then it was like a Descendants basic. They said if I lived five years I'd be a long-term survivor. And I was 25 when I was diagnosed, so I had there was no medications available, not much information around. So for me the thought of a back then family, sport, relationships, future, working, anything, it was just there, was no In my mind. I could not see past that. You know that five years that they'd given me.
Speaker 3:
So when life when, when I came back to Australia and I was quite ill for a while and then Medication became available to me which I started on and my body, I felt my body coming back again and felt life coming back and Then I pursued the sport wasn't on my number one list of what I wanted out of life, because I sat down. I thought, well, you know, I may not live, but if I live longer, what do I want to achieve? What is something I want out of life? And to have a partner and a family was Then pressing. Nope, I was 26, 27 or probably 27, when I was started become well again and it was on the list of things that I wanted to do and wanted to Experience in life. So that's what I, I guess I pursued first. Sport was way on the back burner, like it wasn't on my radar, so I did that. I, you know, found a partner, we had family, and that's what a part of my life happened. Then I thought I was a little bit invincible and I came off my HIV medication and I wasn't invincible and I went downhill really fast and ended up in hospital again with an AIDS defining illness and it was. It was soon after that that I saw this adventure race sign. So I'm guessing At the time I first saw it I Wasn't well enough to do it, but it sparked an interest, it sparked a little fire in me and I guess Through my life, whenever I've been in a dark place or a place of sadness or a place of feeling of helplessness, I've always pinpointed on something in the future or something that a little light of help or a spark of help, or something that I can say to myself like I'm feeling really bad now or life isn't good now, but I can see there's something in the future I can pinpoint to, and I think that's probably was what that motivation was.
Speaker 3:
I was in a dark place. My kids had seen me very unwell in hospital. They were too young to disclose to and for them to fully understand, actually, what was wrong with me. So they were very scared because their mom's in hospital and not doing well. So, yeah, it was my pinpoint, something I could look forward to, something I could focus on and something that could pull me out of, I guess, the darkness. Even though I wasn't in a depressive state, it was. It's a scary space to be on that borderline of well and unwell and life and death, I guess.
Speaker 1:
I appreciate you sharing that. I appreciate you sharing that part of your life and your story. And what you said is really insightful about looking forward or having something to look forward to and having that hope, Because for what we're going through, having that having something to look forward to is it really helps. And I think sports and running and adventure running and obstacle course racing is one of those things that you can turn to to help you kind of depending on where you are in your journey. So I really appreciate you sharing that and I think it's really insightful for our community here. Thank you, Richard. So fast forward a little bit. So now you're back into racing, you're doing triathlons or adventure racing, so let's talk about that. Where'd you go from there?
Speaker 3:
Yeah. So from the adventure racing, like my body got very strong, it got very healthy. I was feeling once again bomb proof, but I didn't. I stayed on my medication and I just had this over. Like it was surreal.
Speaker 3:
It was just such a surreal time and place for me, like by this time, with my adventure racing and moving into the obstacle racing career, I was in my late 30s, early 40s and I raced really competitively up to 45 years old. So it was surreal. Not only was I living with HIV and taking a lot of really toxic medication for it and being having such a gap of no training, and I put on a lot of weight too. When I was not training I was up to 86 kilos and I sit at about 60 now. So I've carried that weight and I've been through so many health conditions and then to be later in life and just like this amazing strength came and I don't know it was just surreal. I'd sit back and just I can't believe this. Like I'm racing in my 40s and I'm racing as a pro. So I'm racing against kids in their 20s I'm sorry, young adults in their 20s and all sorts of ages and I'm doing well. So it was just, it was an amazing time in my life and surreal, and especially when I started the Obstacle Course Racing which started with Tough Mudder. It was another one of those moments for me. I wasn't in a bad place when I heard of Tough Mudder, I was in a very, very good place. But I heard of this event where you run and go through obstacles and I'm like, wow, this sounds amazing. And then I looked Tough Mudder up on the internet and I was alerted to it because a race was coming to Australia. And then, when I was looking the internet, I saw about World's Toughest Mudder, which is a 24 hour event, and I went man, that's got my name written all over it, that's where I wanna go. And I thought in my head I reckon I can win that. So I did the Tough Mudder here in Australia and loved it. And I went in the first event, the first wave, and I just wanted to get my time in the top 5% so I could qualify for World's Toughest Mudder. That was my goal and I don't even know if they even looked at the results or what. There's no really results. But anyway, I qualified for World's Toughest Mudder and that's where my training and my new path took me. And, once again, another event that just every time I thought about it, I get this overwhelming sense of adrenaline and excitement and it just it kicks another level of passion into sport. So I went to World's Toughest Mudder.
Speaker 3:
I was back in 2012. Oh, a long time ago now. No-transcript. It was English Town, new Jersey, I think. They were 10 and a 5 mile, they were big laps and it was very cold, and that's this is where black mitts came. So For me and for that race, I knew I could go 24 hours, no problem. I knew I could run for 24 hours, no problem. Because adventure racing, you know you can race up to 10 days. So or you know, there's 48 hour races where you go 48 hours, no stopping, so 24 hours and no problem.
Speaker 3:
The cold was my weakness. So, and for me, in my racing, I always like what's my weakness and how do I improve on that, because that's what's going to Make it or break it for me. So I trial a lot of gear. I ended up with a like a four-mil wet suit. You know, my feet were sorted, I had neoprene socks and booties and that sort of thing, but I'm like my hands. I need my hands for the obstacles, but I Need to keep them warm. If I put my hands in gloves, it separates my fingers and when my fingers are separated they get cold. I have rainards. I've had that all my life and it hasn't. Australia and most of our racing doesn't get that cold that it becomes such a problem. And if it does, I'm running, or you know, I don't need my hands being an obstacle racing, you need your hands. So that was my dilemma. So I made a very primitive pair of Bledmitz and I I use them for the race and they were fabulous. Like my hands were warm. You know, had people. Yeah, my hands were warm for the 24 hours, except, you know, coming out of a war but water obstacle or something like that. But they worked amazingly and I was able to do the event.
Speaker 3:
I didn't win it, I came that year. You, you, young pack, do you young pack came first, amelia Boone second and myself third. So I was in a top three finisher and I was Just so excited that I've managed to go through that event. Like when I was there, I like this little Australian girl standing up on the line, start line there's big army guys and there was just so many people and I felt so small and so insignificant and, like I, just when I got there and I have I've bitten off too much or, and you know I just focused on ago. Like you know what you're doing, start out. My motto is start out at the pace you expect to be finishing at and just don't stop. Yeah, and that's what I did.
Speaker 3:
So it was an ex crazy, crazy cold race and super exciting and I loved it. And as soon as I finished, I was broken. I was totally broken, but I was thinking, right, what can I improve? Yeah, and went back the next year and One did win the females. Amelia Boone wasn't in it that year, but you know I'm saying that there was certainly other competition, other girls racing, and I finished. I think it was somewhere in the top 10. I can't remember alright. So, and and that led to you know worlds toughest matter being my pinnacle of races I did do Spartan races as well, all this button races in not all of them in America, all the Spartan races in Australia and Also in America, and was once again racing as a pro in the elite categories and, yeah, just doing well up to 2015. Yeah.
Speaker 1:
That's incredible, that's amazing. And when you started the story about tough mother, I'm like always share a similar story because I didn't know anything about Spartan or obstacle course racing and I started to research it and I got excited about it. But then, when you started talking about worlds toughest mother, then Like no, that's not for me. But I did go through, yeah, I did go through the three levels of Spartan, so the sprint, super and beast, which you know, my coach had been encouraging me to do over the years. So I finally did it in person last year, which was a great experience. And I, you know I set out on this journey to do things that I've never done before and overcome fears. But so that was, that was wonderful. But yeah, this whole 24 hour, it's just yeah, that for me.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, it's not for everyone, but it is. If you ever ever do get a little curious, it's really worth it. You know it's really worth Getting your Curious. It's a cure, I said, is stated, I guess.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean I am curious and extent if you know one day what I want to do, it it's just not in the near term. The near term I have other goals that I'm pursuing and I've learned something over the years. Like, if I just try to do too much, you know I'm not gonna do any of it very well. So I'm really hyper focused on some of the things that I want to do. But but I love, you know, I love the story that you shared and you know I think the saying goes Innovation is born out of necessity. So you said you know you're focused on your weaknesses. Your hands were cold. How can you solve that problem? So I think that's very ingenious and innovative that you went ahead and solve it yourself.
Speaker 3:
Thank you. Yeah, well, I guess you know there are a lot of people in the world with rain arts and we just learn our little own coping techniques for living with it in cold, cold weather.
Speaker 1:
So yeah for sure. So you know, let's talk about the the myths a little bit. So, like an obstacle course racing I don't know what your philosophy on this is, but you know, I've always been taught and I think a lot of folks are like, don't use clubs. You know, it's best that you train, just go in with your bare hands. So if you use traditional clubs just to keep your hands warm, that I think it makes it challenging for you to, I guess, take them off before you go to an obstacle. So I think your myths kind of solve some of those challenges. So you know, talk, talk to me a little bit about that.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, that's right. So for me it was like finding something where I can keep my fingers together, because from your own hand you create warmth. If you separate and isolate your fingers, they and especially with rain arts, that you've got bad circulation. As it is, they get cold and you can't heat them up again unless you know you use your body heat or some other heat source. So I needed to find something that allowed me to and, like you said, with using gloves, there's a lot of gloves that don't grip well on obstacles and then maybe they bulk your hands out too much. So I needed to find something or create something that I can keep my hand fingers together and with their hand to keep warm, that allowed me to Expose my hands when I needed to grab onto obstacles and that was quick and effective and that I could just put Back on. Now, myths general myths you had to pull on and off, so that was inconvenience and and so, yeah, I'm from a little bit of a paddling background. There's a product called Pogies, so I was aware of them from paddling and you use them paddling in the cold, so I do. Yeah, so I got that sort of Hand encapsulation idea and the ability to exit. So I just, you know, I got a bits of neoprene and cut them and played with them and found A very primitive legman and that's what I use for. World Stuff is Mother Up until 2000 and other obstacle course races over in, like Spartan World Championships or the OCR World Championships, and my good friend Amanda, she made some pairs as well for herself and then for friends, and they're like these are great, you should make them, and I'm like no one's going to want to. At that stage they kind of look like beer, beer cosies on the end of your hand, so really weird looking things. So, and also, I was busy racing and not focused on manufacturing anything. I was just mindset on racing internationally, australia, that sort of thing.
Speaker 3:
In 2015, I started becoming a little bit. I felt my body wasn't working properly. It felt to me everything hurt and that's the only way I could describe it. Normally, when I run, I love running, it's my go to. I love going anywhere in the world with a pair of shoes, putting my shoes on and running and just waking up. You know, if I'm in a village and you get up early, you see the village coming to life. If you're in the bush, you get up early and you see the bush coming to life, it's just for me a lot of peace. I find a lot of peace and connection with running, anyway, 2015,. Running hurt, like jogging hurt, running hard work when I hurt.
Speaker 3:
When I raced, I only had one gear. I couldn't, you know, go faster or slower. I could go slower, I guess, but normally when I race I race at my race pace. But if I need to pull I can get. You know, I've got more gears. I can move up and down from that race pace.
Speaker 3:
There was nothing and I didn't know what was wrong. I just knew something was wrong Early to well anyway. So it turns out and one, one of the things I knew about I had a it's called a fibroid growing in my uterus and it grew to the size of a small melon. So it was 1.6 kilo, which is I don't know what that is in pounds, to nearly three pounds, I guess. And by the time I had it removed, I looked like a woman that was 20 weeks pregnant and the size of my uterus was that of someone that 20 weeks pregnant. So that had been draining my body and I was anemic. So that answered sort of that side of things. So I had that all removed my radical abdominal hysterectomy in early 2016.
Speaker 3:
And when I was in recovery from that, my friend and man had said well, we've got time on our hands now let's let's make these mitts. So we sat down and we started making black mitts and we, you know, with our machine and some neoprene and sort of, went through a few design ideas and what we designed then is very different to what we have now. But you know, we, they worked and we got them out on the market and they you know we're, I guess they people heard of them and they started selling really well. Then, after a while, we're like we can make some improvements on these. So let's get, let's put it out to people that have bought them and using them and let's get some feedback.
Speaker 3:
So one of them was drainage once, because we had no drainage holes in them at that stage. So if you went through water or mud pits or anything like that, they would sort of not drain well and you'd they'd get a bit heavy. So we popped drainage holes in them. We popped people wanted to be able to see their watch, which makes sense, so we popped a watch hole in them and we designed a different hand, how you can pop your hands out for obstacles. So originally it was like a sight out the side and now we made them so it sort of fits out the top. So, yeah, we put them. Yeah, we got the feedback, we our sewing machine out again and put you know, put some ideas together and next we have the black, and we also. We have two levels now, so black extreme and black light, and then, depending on a how much you feel the cold as to what your product you need, or how cold is the event that you're going to, as to what products, so yeah, All right, I love it.
Speaker 1:
I love it. Well, I have the later ones that you mentioned where it kind of folds back a little bit, and I'm super excited to try those out. But I love the innovation that you put into it and how you're really helping the running community, and so that's really wonderful. So you know what's next for you as an athlete and what's next for a legman.
Speaker 3:
Okay for me.
Speaker 3:
I've. I've once again had a little bit of a back step. I've been keeping fit, but I've had a back step from racing and it's due to, you know, covid sort of I guess started that we all locked down and then I kind of got I was living in Melbourne through COVID and kind of got sick of all. We were the most locked down city in the world and that that doesn't sit with me too well. So I moved, moved out of Melbourne, sold the business I was in at the time and built a tiny home out in the country and have a. I guess that's taken nearly two years and I've I've put my spare time into building and creating my new home. So that's been great. But you know that's my sport's been a sacrifice, However and I know this has been happening in America for a while is I've heard of high rocks and it's finally coming to Australia.
Speaker 3:
So you know that little spark that I talk about, that an event just captures me and I get this adrenaline rush. High Rocks has done it. So high rocks is, I think it's eight stations and it between each like eight. It could be a sled drag, a sled push, rower lunges with sandbags, all that sort of stuff. But in between each station you've got a kilometer run. It's got run in it, it's got my name in it.
Speaker 3:
So I did CrossFit for a while but I was kind of frustrated. I love CrossFit but I was frustrated with it because most of the events were focused at short sharp. There's been no, not much running or that longer sort of stuff in it. And as an endurance athlete, I'm not a I'm not a short sharp person, you know. So I was. I did okay in CrossFit. I never could exhale because I probably was trying to do too many things at the same time. Anyway, for me, the high rock suits me perfectly. You've got your short sharp, fatigue things and then you back it up with a run and then short sharp and then back it up and run.
Speaker 3:
So in August, 26th of August, it's happening here in Melbourne and guess what? I've entered Pro. So I'm look, I'm 50, what am I now? 54. So I I'm like I could do my age group, but I could do my age group any year.
Speaker 3:
And this is like I don't know. I'm just excited and I just thought, well, I'm going to go in the pros and I know there's lots of good people here in Australia that do CrossFit and then good runners. You know this high rocks event attracts runners because it's got a lot of running in it, but attracts CrossFit and it attracts all sorts of athletes from all different warps of life. So I just asked stuff that I can. I can do my age group any year. I'm just going to enter pro and to see how it goes, so I'm super excited it's. It's done, it again. Like it seems in my life that, like I sort of plateau, I find a, a spot where I'm just just moving along and then something picks up my, my adrenaline or my level for excitement and and I fine-tune and I focus and that's where I'm at the moment. So it's a few, probably six weeks out from it and okay yeah, thank you.
Speaker 3:
I'm very, very excited about it and, yeah, that's where I'm going. And for BlegMit, I've since reached out and got some more feedback, so I will be making some more changes to the meet. Yep, but up until August on my mind's on on other things. Love it love it.
Speaker 1:
Well, definitely looking forward to that and congratulations on your success. Thank you so much again for sharing your personal story and your running journey and everything that you you know you've been through to where you are today. I think it's really inspiring and you know just kind of as we wind down here, what would you say would be the one thing to inspire someone to run, especially if they're going through some sort of challenges, whether it's health challenges or or otherwise.
Speaker 3:
I would say you need to find running is a really beautiful sport and when you first start it's hard, but you've just got to push through. And when I say push through I don't mean you've got to run hard or you know, you've just got to keep at it. And it might be walk, run, walk, run, walk, run and then walk and run a bit longer, walk, run a bit longer. I'd say, start out slow, start out, you know, in baby steps, something achievable, and then you will find a time that running becomes your love. And and once you've found that, you don't need motivation to put on a pair of shoes, because once you've connected with that, it's just a beautiful sport and it's a sport.
Speaker 3:
It costs you nothing except a pair of running shoes. You can do it anywhere in the world. You can do it when you're traveling, you can push or road or trail or track. You know it's. It's one of those sports that's, you know. You just walk out the door and do and that is perfect. I'd say yeah, so just find your love and take it slowly thank you so much, deanna.
Speaker 1:
I really enjoy this conversation. How can our listeners find you and follow you online?
Speaker 3:
well, you can find us on bligmitcom. I'm not very good with that, I'm not sure. I think it's bligmitcomau, or, if not, it's bligmitcom. Just Google bligmit and that's pretty much it, that's. That's the easiest place to find me, or and we have Facebook and Instagram as well you can reach out bligmit, that's it, I would say, richard.
Speaker 1:
Okay, all right. Well, I'll put that information in the show notes to make it easy for our listeners to find you again, deanna, thank you so much for coming on the show and, you know, good luck with your upcoming race, your upcoming hyrax race and the next chapter of bligmit.
Speaker 3:
Thank you so much, richard, and thanks for having me here and, yeah, appreciate it.
Speaker 2:
That's it for this episode of Inspire to Run podcast. We hope you are inspired to take control of your health and fitness and take it to the next level. Be sure to click the subscribe button to join our community and also please rate in review. Thanks for listening.