Sofie Schunk: Type One Diabetic's Triumph at the Olympic Marathon Team Trials

Embark on an extraordinary voyage of resilience and endurance as we unpack the story of Sofie Schunk, an engineer and type one diabetic who defied all odds to become an Olympic Marathon Team Trials qualifier in Orlando. Sofie's narrative isn't just about crossing finish lines; it's a testament to the power of persistence, balancing a demanding career with the rigorous demands of marathon training. 

The marathon pavement isn't just a track; it's where camaraderie blooms and shared struggles forge unbreakable bonds. In this episode, we traverse the emotional terrain of major athletic events, where athletes like Sofie not only compete with the clock but also unite in a collective triumph over personal battles. We delve into the heightened experience that courses through these spectacles, the wisdom imparted by legends of the sport, and the ripple effect of encouragement echoing from the sidelines to the heart of the race. It's not merely about running; it's a full-bodied celebration of human spirit and companionship.

Closing this episode, we lace up to tackle the intricate dance of managing diabetes in the realm of athletics. Hear about the ongoing adaptation required to harmonize health and competitive spirit, framed by Sofie's remarkable experiences. We spotlight the invaluable role of community, the mentorship within diabetic and athletic circles, and the powerful narratives that inspire and uplift. Join us as we share the lessons learned, the motivations that fuel our strides, and the positive reverberations of social media as a conduit for support and shared wellness wisdom.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Welcome to 321 Go the Podcast. I'm John Pelkey.

Speaker 2: 0:08

And I'm Karissa Galloway, and we're bringing you stories from start to finish to keep the everyday athlete motivated to keep moving towards the next finish.

Speaker 1: 0:17

Alright, folks, today we are excited, very excited to introduce you to Sophie Schunk, who is the 117th and final finisher of the 2024 Olympic Marathon Teen Trials right here in Orlando. But there is so much more to her story that will inspire you and help you remember how strong you are, no matter what obstacles life throws at you.

Speaker 2: 0:39

That's right. Sophie is not only an extremely talented runner, but she's an engineer by day and, oh yeah, a type one diabetic. So her journey, her finish, was absolutely phenomenal. When I saw her finish in Orlando, I was immediately like when is too soon Ask her to be on the podcast? Do I let her cool down? I'm so excited that she was able to join us today. And healthier you. We're going to talk about overnight oats and then we'll share a touching story from Rick.

Speaker 2: 1:06

Thank you guys for listening. Thank you for subscribing. Just go ahead right now. Open the phone, open your friend's phone, open the person sitting next to you, disney's phone. Subscribe great, and you can even support the show which we would be so grateful if you did see the link in the show notes and you can join amazing listeners like Don surfs up, don, who supported the podcast and helped this show. Keep going. We're going to do a giveaway at the end of March for everyone on the supporter, so stay tuned for that. Let's be friends, let's be social and let's do this. All right, john, inquiring minds want to know how are Google Docs going for you today?

Speaker 1: 2:02

They're going very, very well. I wrapped up essentially all of the writing that I had to do in the Google Docs which I wasn't familiar with. I didn't delete the entire script ever again. I got through it. It seems like they like it. So thanks for asking. I got through that moment. It was touch and go with me for a bit and I will tell you. I do know that at some some night I'm going to have that nightmare again that I've deleted everything. But I learned a lot about Google Docs. It's pretty intuitive and thankfully it bailed me out, because I need all the help I can get with any sort of technical stuff.

Speaker 2: 2:45

Well, we actually were talking about with Jay Holder as we were prepping for the trials, that our start line script was in Google Docs and it was actually we were saying how helpful it is because he can make an update and he doesn't send like version 2.3. Please only you know you can get those updates and you guys all know how Google Docs work. We don't need to go into that for you. But thank you, john. Glad that it has worked out.

Speaker 1: 3:06

Yeah, yeah, I feel much better about it. So all right, Carissa, as this is airing, you'll be out of the country again. Another trip for Carissa, out of the country. Let everybody know where you're going, and I mean where you're going is plural.

Speaker 2: 3:22

It is plural. So we, the point of our trip is we are going to our dear friend Kree Kelly, who we taped an episode with him. I promise Kree is coming out. It just got pushed back for trials coverage. Kree Kelly is getting married to a lovely Renee, so we are going to their wedding, which is in rural Kenya. So, John, you might not know this takes a long time to get to Kenya.

Speaker 2: 3:41

It is far far away so the rest of the wedding party is going to go on safari afterwards, but we have a little thing called the Princess Half Marathon Weekend, so we couldn't do that. So we didn't want to travel all the way to Kenya for just five nights. That seemed exhausting. So we are going to go to Kenya by, via Dubai, which there's a little bit of anxiety because everything that's going on in that area of the world right now. We hope it will be okay, we believe it'll be okay. We're going to be out in a resort area, so we will take the direct Emirates flight, which we will do our very best to not miss, like we did in Los Angeles, for 13 hours and 50 minutes from Orlando to Dubai. And no, we're not in first class because literally they were like upgrade for just $7,000 a person. Even if you have a lot of money, like $1,000, $750 an hour, is that logical?

Speaker 1: 4:36

But yeah, have you ever seen their like business class? Oh wait, no, the 7000, though, wasn't for that.

Speaker 2: 4:43

The 7000 was for step one. It was like 25,000 a person for what? You're the fancy, fancy one, and I don't think our airplane is the super fancy one that has the showers, but it's so Wes and I will be sitting in a coach seat for 13 hours and 50 minutes, but we did get the extra leg row.

Speaker 1: 5:03

Smart Smile. But then I ended up in the middle seat.

Speaker 2: 5:06

Westing is the aisle and the middle seat's always smaller, so how's that fair?

Speaker 1: 5:10

Well, life is unfair. I've heard that you didn't get to San.

Speaker 2: 5:12

Antonio and I have to sit in the middle.

Speaker 1: 5:16

Life is unfair. I don't get to go to Kenya because we have a lovely Judy and I. I was, but we have some other trips coming up and it just didn't fit into our fiscal plan.

Speaker 2: 5:28

Yeah, so, as you guys are, listening to this, I will probably be our last day, will be our last day in Dubai. We're staying out at the resort side in the Jeremiah trying to how you say it area. I don't know how much we're going to do in Dubai. I think we want to get there and kind of feel out how we feel safety wise, just to make sure that it's because we thought about going out to the dunes, but that's just not something that we want to do right now.

Speaker 1: 5:49

It looks very cool, so yeah we have never been, but it really does look like there's a lot of cool stuff.

Speaker 2: 5:53

Yes, so we will. We will follow up with all that and then I cannot wait to go to Kenya. We are staying at the home of the 2020 Olympic Marathon champion, again, elliot Kipchogi. You are invited to the wedding. Please come.

Speaker 2: 6:06

I promise I will not be super weird, but going out to rural Kenya is always like exciting, but things are so different in terms of like bathrooms, showers, electrical outlets, food, what you can eat, what you can't eat, just because of the water. It's, it's a fine area, but it's just your. Our bodies are not designed to drink water in other countries, so we just had to be really careful about fruits and vegetables and like literally what we're eating. So there's always a little bit of anxiety, but it's always it's amazingly a welcoming place.

Speaker 2: 6:36

We get to go back to the school that Cree's charity sponsors, so we donated some money and they're doing projects like putting in an actual bathroom for the upper classes, they put in a kitchen, they're redoing some of the floors. We will go when we get there and we'll buy books and we'll give the books to the top performers in the school and we've got some clothes and stuff that we're bringing with us. So really excited about all that and we will sort of break that down once we get back after princess. I land the day before we start princess rehearsal, so I'm sure I won't be jet lagged or like groggy or anything.

Speaker 1: 7:13

Yeah, that may be you being the kindest and friendliest person.

Speaker 2: 7:16

Well, we come back from Nairobi to Amsterdam and direct from Amsterdam to Orlando, so not terrible. There are hotels in the Amsterdam airport that you can rent hourly, which sounds bad, but it's in it, folks, it's not that kind of hotel.

Speaker 1: 7:31

You know Amsterdam pretty, I've been there. Pretty liberal, so good to know Well.

Speaker 2: 7:36

I just thought it was a nice place to take a shower Like you know, if you have, if you have some extra time.

Speaker 1: 7:41

I don't know how long your layover is, but the best restaurant I've ever eaten in is in.

Speaker 2: 7:45

We've talked about this. I don't think we have that kind of time.

Speaker 1: 7:47

If you need some Indonesian food, long poor I 've still never been.

Speaker 2: 7:50

Is there Indonesian food in Orlando? Can we find that out and go? Can do a.

Speaker 1: 7:54

possibly you know what I will do that research as you circumnavigate the globe over the next couple of weeks.

Speaker 2: 8:00

Let's go. Okay, john, for you. You're not going to do bio Kenya, although you were invited. What do you do on the weekends? You mentioned the farmers market last week. What do?

Speaker 1: 8:09

you do. Yeah, well, you know it's funny because people ask about that and I haven't really asked all the time.

Speaker 2: 8:14

It's like a frequently frequently.

Speaker 1: 8:15

You have no idea. I mean just knocking at the door. What do you do? It's Friday. What are you guys doing the rest of the weekend?

Speaker 1: 8:23

I've worked in theme parks since 1990. So, 30 or 34 year? I'm coming up on my 34th year and you don't really have normal weekends, you know this, and you work in the parks you have. You may have two days off if you have a five day job once in that 34 years. For one year I actually had Saturdays and Sundays off and most of the time I would, you know, during football season I'm watching college football, but my on the days off that my wife and I have. We have a house and their house projects, as you know. I've mentioned yard work, which I'll be heading out to do when we're we're wrapping up here and, yeah, we go to the farmer's market. You know we're both big foodies, jodi and I, so trying to trying out a new restaurant or going to one of our favorite restaurants, try to do something with our animals, take an extended walk. We live here in a coey. There's a lot of real interesting stuff going on, as far as turning a coey into more of a destination.

Speaker 2: 9:18

Sure yeah, sort of like winter garden. I used to live in a coey. It has really changed since I shunned and moved away.

Speaker 1: 9:24

So something like that, and then we try to catch up on any sort of if we're binge watching, anything, if we. We just wrapped up Loki, the second season of Loki, which was really enjoyable and as confusing as always at times. So that's kind of it. Try to do something out of doors, if that's possible out of doors. My God, I sound like during the Hoover administration you know doors.

Speaker 2: 9:52

Well, that's good, John.

Speaker 1: 9:53

I you know that was so we're you know, and I read and just regular people.

Speaker 2: 9:58

What did you? What did you get at the farmer's market? And this is my final question- what about farmer's? Market what?

Speaker 1: 10:03

did you get?

Speaker 2: 10:06

Oh, because our farmers market the winter garden farmer's market there's a sign that says it was voted the best in America and I'm not sure. I don't ever believe those kinds of things, like the airplane magazine, like the top 100 doctors in the world. I'm like are you, are you, did you pay for this?

Speaker 1: 10:18

Yeah, it's pretty good. It's pretty good. We actually ensued to shun to push away purchasing any vegetables. They usually have a lot of great vegetables but we had preview. We'd been shopping earlier in the week and we really were sort of at a place where we're trying desperately and we have for years and gotten much better at not over buying things that can go bad because nothing very few things make me angrier.

Speaker 1: 10:41

Well, all the things that make me really angry have to do with food. Very few things make me angrier than pulling open your vegetable drawer and everything is now like a pile of mush, and all of that great zucchini that you bought is bad. So we did get some great coffee, some great food to walk around. We met dozens of dogs it was so full of animals and you know that's great for us and then we actually had a chance to walk down the street to the bookstore as well. So Winter Garden Farmers Market I'm loath to say it because, man, it's gotten so crowded that it's difficult to park sometimes, but it is really, really great. We will be going back this week.

Speaker 1: 11:22

There's a knife sharpener to get some knives sharpened and we're going to pick up a little seafood and the cheese collection that the cheese folks have there is out of this world and, as people listening know, johnny's favorite food is cheese.

Speaker 2: 11:34

Yeah, no, that sounds delicious, and now I'm getting hungry. So we want to thank you guys for listening. We also want to thank our sponsors. We have two great sponsors, one of which I recently shouted out on social media. This is a brand that we found at the Ironman World Championships. They're used by a lot of triathletes and we want you guys to be on the cutting edge. That's why we got them to sponsor the podcast, so that you could learn all about Pillar Triple Magnesium.

Speaker 2: 11:56

Pillar is a sports micronutrition company and their products intersect between pharmaceutical intervention and sports supplements for athletes. I've been using it, wes has been using it, john's getting some. We're going to make sure everybody is on this train, but I talk about magnesium a lot. The type of magnesium is important, and this is a high dose of magnesium glycinate, which is a powerhouse ingredient. It's used by professional athletes Jan Frodeno, ben Canute, olympic gold medalist Gwen Jorgensen and many more. The goal is that it helps improve your sleep. It also helps your recovery, so you're not only more rested, but your body is ready for your next workout. It's going to help you get to the start line in the best condition. Over and over again, we want to thank Pillar for their support and our US listeners. You can buy it on thefeedcom, use 321-GO and you're going to get 15% off If you're outside of the US. You can find the info in our show notes.

Speaker 1: 14:11

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Speaker 2: 14:23

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Speaker 1: 14:56

Okay civilians.

Speaker 3: 14:57

It's time for the goods. Let's get on to the interview.

Speaker 1: 15:01

Very excited to introduce you to Sophie Schunk, who is the 117th and final finisher of the 2024 Olympic Marathon Team Trials right here in Orlando, but there is so much more to her story that will inspire you and help you remember how strong you are, no matter what obstacles life throws at you. Hello, sophie, welcome to 321GO the podcast. We're so happy to have you here. We'll start this as we start all of our podcast with our guests. How are you and where are you?

Speaker 3: 15:33

I'm good. Like I said, I'm getting ready to go skiing a little vacation after trials for myself and I'm in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It's actually snowing here this morning what.

Speaker 2: 15:44

Sorry, we live in Florida. We don't understand that. That is yeah it is.

Speaker 3: 15:50

It's a good sign for skiing, but I hope the drive's fine.

Speaker 2: 15:53

Where are you going skiing Now? We've already veered, off course.

Speaker 3: 15:56

Yeah, yeah, yeah, colorado, aston Colorado, and you can drive there.

Speaker 2: 16:03

Geography John.

Speaker 1: 16:04

I know, I know, brought to you by Rand McNally. I'm so old and Rand McNally.

Speaker 2: 16:09

Okay, good, we got that covered, skiing, snow is good, driving, got all of that. So we're going to talk about your race at trials, but what I think is remarkable about your story is you just raced what is, I think, I'm pretty sure, the hardest marathon in the country to get into. You did that with speed, with hard work, and you also did that with type 1 diabetes. So there's so much to talk about and we do want to talk about your race and the marathon and how you're just truly an inspiration to so many, I think, people, but I hope so many kids out there see what you do and believe what's possible. So let's kind of start with you for qualifying. What was your journey like in 2024 to get under that 237 time? I think you did that. Did you do it at CIM in December? I did what?

Speaker 3: 16:51

was that journey like yeah, so great question. And honestly I until this year didn't think I even had a chance at qualifying. So that's what made my last. I did three marathons in four months, which is a little bit why my body took a toll on Saturday. But it was a pretty cool journey because, like I said, two, three, four years ago, I had no, I thought I had no shot at 237.

Speaker 3: 17:17

So in January I'd gone through some like life changes and just some challenging like personal moments and kind of decided to put all that negative energy into running and then just my career. So I really tried to start simplifying my life and just started training harder than I ever had before. I found a new coach which really helped and we ran. I actually ran the January Arizona rock and roll half marathon in the middle of ski season, so I really hadn't done a ton of mileage and surprised myself with a four minute PR and it was my first time ever going under 120 and a half and I ran a 116. And so after that, talking with my coach, she's like I really think you should just go for the 237. Your trajectory is kind of on the way up and so we had looked at grandma's marathon in June and I guess I got really overly excited that this became a reality. So we started training hard. I did a race in San Diego. It's one of my favorite 5Ks the Carlsbad 5000.

Speaker 1: 18:23

That's a great one, so you should do that one, if you ever want some inspiration.

Speaker 3: 18:27

Yeah, john, yeah, john, it's in April.

Speaker 1: 18:31

Let's call the brakes on John running right now.

Speaker 3: 18:35

Carlsbad, 5000 San Diego.

Speaker 1: 18:37

Okay, all right, let me pencil that in I guarantee you would not be like the slowest there.

Speaker 3: 18:43

There's just like a ton of oh, I'll take that challenge.

Speaker 1: 18:47

There's a challenge that I'll take right there. Oh, I can be the slowest.

Speaker 3: 18:50

You're at the finish line. It's on the coast in California. So anyways, I jumped into that race and had a really good day. But I think what happened is I probably peaked around then and so I started going into marathon training and I guess I'd really excited, put on a ton of miles and started to get some like weird nerves pain and just was a little burnt out by grandma's. So we decided to not do grandma's and just reset and kind of look at my blood sugars at the time had been really high and just kind of out of control and it just didn't seem like the right fit. So we took a step back, like that was like my medical team and tried to have a better like diabetes management plan, going into training hard throughout kind of the late summer. And then the McCurdy micro marathon came up and so that was like our goal, like our AGL option and that was the one in New York. So that one I got there.

Speaker 3: 19:46

I had like almost no training cycles, perfect, but it couldn't have been more perfect on paper and felt amazing through 18 miles and then immediately got humbled by the marathon and what happened in set mile 18. Sometimes I think I took it for granted, it was my first marathon I had done since 2019. So I needed. I didn't have that experience in the marathon for a while, like at that pace, because in 2019 I wasn't running at the pace I was now and so missed the call off hour by about six minutes. I ran it. I basically a drug which would have qualified you in 2020.

Speaker 2: 20:30

But yeah, exactly.

Speaker 3: 20:32

And so I had to be like proud of that PR and and that, like in 2019, when I ran CAM trying to hit the 245, I ran a 249. So was really proud of the fact that I could almost like bonk that hard and still run a 243 under the old standard. So we were sitting at dinner that night and I think my friend, who has actually been he's my like friend and roommate, like has been to every race he like gave me this dollar bill. He's like I think you have to do CIM and I already made the decision in my mind and luckily, like I had been signed up for it because all of the major marathons were already full, so I already had an entry into CIM, but they weren't able to like get me into elite because it was too late. So I actually started CIM and it's suddenly, but he's like I I truly think it might be better for you to go into that race like with the underdog mentality, and that was kind of what happened. And so we had to be pretty strategic between New York and CIM on my training but felt great Like was focusing on speed and the tempo, but then, right before CIM, I actually like I got an infection from my glucose monitor. So I was on antibiotics like the last couple of weeks. I we're not the best.

Speaker 3: 21:49

So, like lining up, I knew I had done the training. I did like 20 miles at pace at McCurdy and so I was like you know, this is the last chance, you have to just go for it. So I just went for it. The first 10 miles I didn't even feel that great. It was a little bit concerning. It was the complete opposite of McCurdy. But I just hung on with the pack and started and was taking the fluids we planned on.

Speaker 3: 22:13

I had insulin in my system this time around so I didn't have like the blood sugar spikes that I had at McCurdy which kind of caused me to cramp, and so just tried to stay confident in it. And the everyone kind of just started like hearing us on. I found, like my friend Mary, who also qualified for trials with me that day and we kind of were just talking to each other, saw a lot of people on the course that I knew from when I used to live in California and it was just a really encouraging day and just kind of like put my head down and by like 18, I felt like everything had turned around in my legs and there was only a few of us left and I truly felt like I could race and I knew like turning the corner on the final turn, when it was like still 235 high, it was like I knew I did it and it was pretty, pretty awesome experience.

Speaker 1: 23:08

That's the oh, but that's just remarkable. I mean, the journey that it takes is just incredible. So let's jump forward to Orlando and we're going to get back, because we want to talk about how you manage your type one diabetes and dealt with that from the time that you were diagnosed. But let's talk about our hometown here, orlando. Race Day in Orlando. How are you feeling? What were your expectations that morning prior to the start?

Speaker 3: 23:36

Yeah, so this is something I didn't open up about a ton before that race. I had a great few weeks right after CAM training and then, I think, doing three marathon cycles back to back started to catch up with me. So I had to work with my trainers and my coach about okay, we're really pushing that line of overtraining and how to not overtrain. Even though it was like the biggest stage that I was truly hoping to compete on and move up my seed and we believed I could do it on a good day I started to develop shin splints which reminded me of high school track way longer, of course.

Speaker 3: 24:17

I was like, of all things, shin splints are coming up now.

Speaker 3: 24:22

So I started to develop shin splints I don't know if it was a lot of the treadmill running for like training in a heat chamber or what, but they just kind of came on suddenly and a few other things we're going on and it was more.

Speaker 3: 24:36

We had to reevaluate the goals of the day. We're just to enjoy it that I got there, celebrate the experience, and really the week before I just had, I still had that pain in my legs and we cannot get rid of it. So I had to really like kind of swallow my pride and go into it with all right, who are you going to inspire today? And let's make the most of the day, enjoy it, try to smile, hopefully can run the whole thing, even though I hadn't been able to do kind of all the runs I was hoping to do between CIM and trials. So we really did have to kind of reset expectations and went into it Like hey, your purpose today is not necessarily to race for a place, it's just to get out there and know what you can do and just enjoy it.

Speaker 2: 25:22

Well, that's what I want to ask before we dive through your race. I want to ask did you enjoy the trials experience? Like, did you stay in the hotel? Did you get to hang out with the other athletes? Like, did you roommate with? Did you room with your friend Mary? Like, how did all that work out?

Speaker 3: 25:34

Yeah, the experience was incredible. I don't know who like plans it all, but I know it's like the USHTF committee, the little bit committee like you all, like the Orlando, like track check LOC.

Speaker 2: 25:48

I think that's like the you know, yes, the acronym, the acronym.

Speaker 3: 25:52

Yeah, yeah, like it was really like people said it's an awesome experience and it truly it like blew away my expectations. Like I mean, they put us in a hotel all the food, the meals, and just like getting like sitting down with the other athletes and meeting people that you've like seen on Instagram or on TV and you're like, wow, I'm here and I'm doing this and you're just kind of like like everyone's just kind of a regular person with their own cool story and learning and just walking around and hearing like the hype and the buzz of it all. Everyone was almost willing to help if you needed something. So like the volunteers were great, they were always smiling. I didn't room with Mary. I just ended up getting a room. So like my diabetes sports project, the nonprofit that I work with, willing to help like sponsor my own room and then my friend and roommate stayed with me, nice.

Speaker 2: 26:49

But did you see Mary and everyone? I think it's all fascinating. So I stayed at you guys hotel at the last night and I was on the highway side and it was really loud.

Speaker 3: 26:58

Was your room loud or did you?

Speaker 2: 26:59

sleep well.

Speaker 3: 27:00

Cause I was worried for you guys. Yeah, luckily we didn't have a highway side, but that is interesting yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:07

Cause there was one point where, like it was like, is that a helicopter? I like to it because my husband stayed with me and I'm just worried for you guys. Like I don't care if I'm exhausted, I don't have to really do anything, but yeah.

Speaker 3: 27:17

I don't know how they did it, but like, oh, I think a lot of the athletes rooms are on the inside, yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:23

I went down that uh, I left my room that morning to go down to the start and I got the elevator and there were probably like three athletes and then Joan Benoit was in the elevator and I was like, if I'm an athlete and I am in this elevator with Joan like my nerves, just to know what I mean, like I was like this is makes it feel real, real for you guys. But it is nice that you got that sort of camaraderie at the hotel and got to experience more than just lighting up for a race.

Speaker 3: 27:45

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 27:46

And it leads actually to a quick followup. I want to ask and I'm sorry to cut you off about that, but uh, uh and this is it in in our list of questions but did you find yourself fangirling at all at any point? Is there a moment when you're just like, oh my God, I'm here with oh for sure.

Speaker 3: 28:02

So actually I was just gonna say that morning I was walking out of my room and it turns out Emily Sisson was on my floor and she's walking out like right in front of me, to the. I thought to the stairs, so those are the other things. The elevators took forever and we're on the sixth floor, so I was taking the stairs so much. But she, she was walking out. I'm like is she really gonna take the stairs right now? Nope, no stairs.

Speaker 3: 28:28

Oh no, but she like walked into a room and I think it was like media, but I was walking down the hallway with her and like I pointed her out to my friend, I was like I and I like looked and I was like she should make the team. And then the night, but like two nights before we ate dinner actually next to like Kira Diamoto's parents which was really cool to see they just like driven down from Virginia. We're just the most like down-to-earth people and we're talking to the waiters about my daughter's seated number two. And and again I looked at my friend and here he's like who's number two? And I was like I think that's Kira, yeah. And so we started chatting with them and they were like excited to hear my story and they're like, hey, that was Kira like Eight years ago. You have Eight years left. That's my fan growing yeah we all were, yeah.

Speaker 2: 29:22

So let's talk a little bit about your race. You went into it not, you know, obviously feeling a hundred percent and as, as we know, you were our final finisher, that we got to celebrate, so obviously the race for you got hard. What kept you going out there? What were some of your? Your why?

Speaker 3: 29:39

Yeah. So I mean, if anyone knows me, if I'm gonna start something, I'm probably gonna finish it, unless someone takes me off the course or my legs are completely broken. That's just who I am. I Knew this was a different stage and that was going to be tough, knowing I would be the last place finisher if it were to come to that. And so I did think about it a couple times during the course and my feet started crumping because I was having to like I was running Not my normal stride, like I'm outside of my feet, trying to avoid like the shin pain and stuff to them outside of my so stuff like that. That's when it got hard and it was on the back side where there's a little bit less of the fans, but it was on that side that I had no idea at the time.

Speaker 3: 30:26

But there was a type one girl out there with her mom there's actually a couple of them that had like found me or like saw my story, I think, in runners world and and we're out there cheering and like wrote a sign for me, like about like I have diabetes too, like you can do it, and that was I was.

Speaker 3: 30:43

Okay, I have to finish for these girls like, even though I'm hurting it, it was something and a lot of them had reached out to me saying like they were still afraid to run or put their kids in Sports with diabetes, because doctors just don't like, especially as a young kid, you don't consciously know what's happening to your body until it might be too late, and it's scary for parents to be able to trust to put their kids in sports or For them to take it on themselves, like if your blood sugar starts going low, which this might actually did in the race.

Speaker 3: 31:16

Normally I'll be like riding an adrenaline, high blood sugars, but I actually this time, since I was out there for longer and and had a little less of that adrenaline rush towards the end, I was experiencing some low blood sugars, and so that's where it gets a little scarier, like you have to make sure you're eating enough carbs for what you're burning and just like learning that and and wanting to show that you can kind of make a hard day Easier and still get through it, because I mean, type ones are always having to think about their body is every single day and and it's you can't quit. So kind of having that no quit mentality I think got me through that's amazing, and I'm a dietitian.

Speaker 2: 31:56

I don't know if you know that, but I always know like.

Speaker 3: 31:58

I saw that on your profile.

Speaker 2: 31:59

I'm gonna ask you like diabetes is a job like you never get to take a day off. It's really. You know it's a lot to me and so it's great that for for that little girl out there, you were showing her. You know what that can be like you said in your Instagram post, you talked about the cyclist who was with you and I think his name was. I texted. I went to find out who it was. I think it's you. That's awesome, david.

Speaker 3: 32:20

Was it a guy? Yeah, so there were two of them. The first one, he got pulled off at some point. He was also really cool, but they both were it. That's probably not their exact words, I put on my Instagram, but it was close. Yeah, no, I just want his name was David and I think it was really cool what you said, because you do.

Speaker 2: 32:38

I mean, I'm sure in that moment Maybe I'm putting work. Did you feel like self-conscious, a little bit like oh god?

Speaker 2: 32:43

I know I'm under, but you didn't, obviously you shouldn't, and you, you know that also in the back of your head. John and I were talking their day about how our brain knows we're supposed to be thinking one thing but we're thinking another, and I just think it's cool that they, they supported you and we all were cheering for you. We were excited for you to be out there to be showing an example of that Marathoning sucks. It's really hard. You finish, yeah.

Speaker 1: 33:06

Yeah, you forget when people are running five minute miles at the 24 mile mark. For people like me, you forget. Well, wait a second. But this is really really hard what these folks are doing. All right, let's, let's jump back. We talked about it. Your type one diabetes diagnosis came in high school, I believe. Now, obviously, this didn't stop you from from pursuing a lot of sports. Can you take us through that being diagnosed and how that affected your mindset and how you came to terms with? Okay, as Carissa said, I now have this full-time job that I'm doing in the midst of these other things that I'm trying to do.

Speaker 3: 33:44

Yeah, so I, when I was diagnosed, I was running track, playing soccer. I basically, I mean, I was a Type A personality back then and like a I guess I don't even know if it was four O's in high school, but four O's student and I was getting frustrated with sports because I was like not performing. I'd gone from Someone who, like, was a high performer to just like falling asleep at night without doing my homework, which was like very uncharacteristic of me. And so I was getting frustrated and I was like mom, like some things were wrong, and and they took me to the doctor and they're like, oh, she's just growing, she's fine, but we'll get blood work anyways. And so they got blood work. They ended up losing my labs and A week later they like called my mom and they're like you need to go pick her up from school. Right now she could be in like DKA. And so my mom picks me up.

Speaker 3: 34:46

So she picks me up from school and she's like we're going to the hospital. I was like why? She's like they think you have type one diabetes and I'm like what? So she had like printed out articles here, start reading these. I'm like reading like about type one and I got really excited, which is weird. But I'm like, oh, I know what's wrong with me. This is everything.

Speaker 3: 35:06

And we like there's no diabetes in my family, so that we hadn't picked up on a lot of the signs and symptoms. I had been eating a lot more and like losing weight. So I mean, I think I would go through a jar of peanut butter like in two days and was losing weight every day, and we just hadn't picked up on it. But I get there and they're like, oh, like they looked at my mom and I like which one of you has type one? Or the blood sugar of 680, and so yeah. So I was like, oh, it's me, I guess. And they were surprised I hadn't like passed out, I hadn't like done any of the like, like had scary episodes, and so after that diagnosis they actually didn't even have beds in New Mexico. Our hospital system sometimes is overloaded, so they sent me home with like a vial of insulin, like every time you have carbs. This is the ratio. Take a shot of insulin. So I got home and I was starving. I hadn't eaten like all day and I have a pair and my blood sugar goes immediately up to 400 and I just started like crying and so like realizing that I would have to take insulin with every Like ounce of carbs that eat. And like pears are, while they're a fruit, they're very high glycemic, as you know. So like fruits are actually crazy, don't eat a ton of fruits the higher glycemic ones because they are very quick sugar. So just learning that the first month or two was really difficult.

Speaker 3: 36:37

But I documented everything and as a high school female and I think this isn't talked about enough mentally it was really hard because you go from underweight when you're diagnosed because you haven't been absorbing anything, to gaining it all back and then some. So I actually I was always on the thinner side, but I gained like 30 pounds after my diagnosis just by taking insulin and it was really hard on me as a high school female and so I got even. I was already shy and then I wanted to hide my disease, so I became more shy and so it was a tough like couple of years in high school but I still like stuck with soccer. I stuck with track because I loved being an athlete. I ended up not having the best end to track season.

Speaker 3: 37:28

I couldn't figure out how to run with diabetes, but I switched to soccer. I was a goalkeeper and ended up playing soccer in college and I went to Marquette University and played as a goalkeeper and it was actually at Marquette where I started to like just completely branch out on my shell. I went from like being a total injured to more of an extrovert, like started getting motivated to talk about my disease, met other people type one that were doing high level activities and athletics and started to learn like better management and that I could actually use like my type one for motivating others and learning and teaching and educating and have like an insight into, like my own body of, like what my feeling means for.

Speaker 1: 38:13

I just want to mention that all other soccer players will tell you that goalkeepers are crazy, nutty, type A out there personalities. I remember chef messing the great goalie keeping stuffed animals in the net with him to shake them at players when they made a bad player or something. So nutty people, but we love them All right, I want to stay on this for a bit because there are a lot of people listening who don't know a lot about type one diabetes.

Speaker 2: 38:42

First of all, can I just say shame on the hospital for just sending you home with no nutrition education and no dietitian, and honestly, I know that it's not necessarily better now, anyway, even when I worked in the hospital, but anyway, shame on them. If you're a medical provider and you have someone diagnosed with diabetes, please get them the time and the education they need. Okay, john, go on. Oh my, yeah, yep.

Speaker 3: 39:00

I'm with you, I'll just improve. We can talk about that later, but I'm looking at getting my CDE license because my CDE made like a huge difference in my life. I went into biomedical engineering and I still am in engineering. But I want to try to get my license.

Speaker 2: 39:18

No, because people don't understand what a carb is and you're saying pear and pears have a lot of fiber, but like how it impacts it and, yes, you can still eat carbs, but you have to pair them with a protein and it's basically like a degree you need to manage your own body and for them to just send you home with some insulin, as a teenager too, gosh, flabbergasted John, please move on, but we're gonna stay in the same vein, because we're gonna try to help people who are listening or may know someone who has that.

Speaker 1: 39:43

And we could spend hours talking about shaming the medical system, the holes in our healthcare system. So let's just move on from that and talk about the actual things that you have to deal with with diabetes, because I read that at some point earlier in your career, when you were younger, you had to stop at a gas station to fuel up a little bit. So discuss the valuable lessons that you've learned through all of that and I guess, if you can put it in words, the management of nutrition and hydration that you deal with, which are so much more acute than other athletes.

Speaker 3: 40:22

Yeah. So the gas station story is a great example of when I got into distance running and had no clue that every run is going to be different with diabetes, especially when it's a new sport. So part of my studies in college actually were like looking at anaerobic versus aerobic exercise for diabetes management and also trained versus untrained athletes. So when you're untrained or it's a sport, that John Pelkey.

Speaker 2: 40:52

I think untrained is the John Pelkey of the world. Well, it's not that.

Speaker 3: 40:57

So even I equate it to like. So if I were to go because if I get injured or like in cross training or taking time off running, I'll go swim or bike and usually like the first swim, my blood sugar just tanks because I'm just not used to it. So your body's in that like fight or flight and then it's gonna burn more glucose because that's just like your first, like quickest form of energy, and so when your body is like I need energy now, it'll go straight to glucose. So it changes right. So like learning that, documenting it my first run over 10 miles I like had been kind of practicing but didn't realize after that like hour mark you're gonna go into like a very aerobic burn state and so of course you're burning glucose. And I had a low and I was in downtown Milwaukee and I had to stop at a gas station and ask for a Gatorade and then go back and pay for it later because that's not when you had Apple Pay or anything. But so lots of learning and always carry stuff on you and that's like a big thing that I have to do and sometimes I deal with high. It's like this last year I've been dealing with more high blood sugars and having to kind of really focus in on that mix like fat and protein with my carbs so that I'm more sustained. The roller coaster is like the thing you have to avoid. If you're gonna go up high, you're probably gonna go down low, and that's just like how the body is, like you wanna try to master that like homeostasis, even though you know you're not producing your own insulin, so you're gonna have to like add in insulin as you're feeling, and also like burning glucose. So in terms of the management side of things, I've learned that different types of exercise affect me differently. So track workouts, anything high stress, like races, I'm dealing with high blood sugars or most likely a higher blood sugar, but you know you still need your carbs for exercise. So the balance and the timing of carbs and insulin becomes really key. And so like the timing of when I take my breakfast, like I'd rather have like a breakfast, a higher breakfast two to three hours before with insulin, so that I still have a little bit in my system. So that's your short acting insulin, or I'll increase my long acting insulin, like that whole week. So that's what I usually do the week of race day, and then you have that baseline to try to avoid those higher blood sugars.

Speaker 3: 43:21

The danger comes in. Why a lot of like kids and parents are afraid to put their kids with diabetes in the sports is the low blood sugars. Especially if you're already an active kid like your metabolism is high and so you're constantly burning glucose. You're constantly having to take snacks to basically have enough carbs up to what you're burning. And that's a really hard calculation and it changes. Like the first couple of years of diagnosis you're still in that like honeymoon phase You're producing some of your own insulin and then the years down the road it can taper off and as you're an adult and you have a higher stress job, a higher stress career, maybe you're sitting more. That's all stuff to factor into diabetes management.

Speaker 2: 44:05

So when you were racing I think you mentioned earlier at this marathon you did have an insulin pump on like and that was giving you insulin during your race. So that was just if you needed it.

Speaker 3: 44:15

I actually still only use my insulin pen, but I'm able to take that like pretty easily while I'm running. Some people with diabetes like how, and I'm like, well, it's a pen that it's right here. Actually, it's a pen that I just put in my sports bag and I don't mind taking injections.

Speaker 2: 44:34

And so did you have to do. Did you do that in Orlando?

Speaker 3: 44:36

Yeah, so I took it like right before the start. I didn't have to take it during because my blood sugars were actually on the lower end for this one or I. Just I was fueling as like I know, kind of when I hit those glucose burning patterns. And so every two to three miles I take less carbs than probably most would, but more often. So that's when I do like I mix in, like you can, which is more of a longer acting source, with gummy bears which have some protein in it, so like. So you don't get that immediate spike. And then with the gummy bears you can only you could take like a few at a time versus like a lot of the time. And so in CIM I actually had to take more insulin because I had that huge adrenaline spike. But yeah, I'm able to carry it with me and I have my CGM. What about for you? There's still a lot of them Go ahead, just electrolytes.

Speaker 2: 45:31

So how are you balancing your electrolytes while you're out there too.

Speaker 3: 45:34

Yeah, so in John, I realized you asked me about electrolytes and I didn't, or hydration. I didn't answer. But for anyone with diabetes, hydration is key and not just water. It's electrolytes because, like you, already have some imbalances. So if you're dehydrated, your blood sugar is going to go up and or it's gonna be a little bit higher. That concentration is, and that's something you don't wanna deal with while you're off of dealing with adrenaline. Okay, so making sure that, and the other thing about hydration is not doing it all at once, it's gotta still be like frequently, right? So I'll be sipping on and I am not the worst or I'm not the best with drinking water. I quite refrigerately, like hate the taste of water.

Speaker 3: 46:21

I always have like some form of electrolytes in there, like BCAAs or electrolytes, I have to mix it in, but I'm just trying to like carry around a bottle with me everywhere I go and drinking every so often and then during the race I am very sensitive to carbs and drinks. So I learned this at New York. I put a U-can even though it's a super starch and slower absorbing in my bottles but I was spiking from taking that concentrated sugar in a drink. So I had been mixing or alternating water and U-can, but every time I was taking that U-can drink I was spiking. So I was learning lesson I took into CIM.

Speaker 3: 47:03

In CIM I ended up just taking water. I took water at almost every station that I could and I knew I needed electrolytes but unfortunately CIM only had the noon that has carbs in it. I learned that four years ago actually that I didn't even know there was a noon that had carbs. I just assumed it was the one that was carb free. But those carbs spiked to me four years ago at CIM. So I learned that lesson and I knew I needed some form of electrolyte during CIM. So I was taking electrolyte tabs, like the salt stick tabs, every time I was drinking water and that seemed to work really well For Orlando. The bottle, the personal hydration stations were amazing and then there was a ton of water out there.

Speaker 1: 47:48

So my personal bottles had BCAAs and electrolytes in them, and it was the carb free electrolytes I just again boggles the imagination, the number of things you have to balance, and with all the things medical too, I mean we learn things consistently and things change. So I'm curious have you ever, are you in some sort of connection or have had connections with other world-class athletes that are type one diabetic, and can you also talk about maybe the mutual support you get within that community? Because my goodness, this is just so much for one person To just balance. If you want to introduce me to all the type one pros, that'd be awesome.

Speaker 3: 48:31

Robin Arsane, I do.

Speaker 2: 48:32

I know Robin's been on your father-in-law's podcast.

Speaker 1: 48:35

I actually had a friend who played college football at the University of North Carolina in the 80s and he was type one diabetic and I know for him managing that. But you can imagine 40 years ago now what that's like as far as how far we've come in dealing with it.

Speaker 2: 48:52

And I'll piggyback on top of that.

Speaker 1: 48:53

And I'm going to steal your question, Carissa, on top of it is how can other runners help support folks with diabetes?

Speaker 3: 48:59

Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of pro figures out there now, especially in the NFL, like Noah Gray. Jordan Morris is a soccer player, for I think he's still with the Sounders, the Seattle Sounders, so there's quite a few Runners. The list goes down quick, especially distance runners. So I am the third type one to qualify for trials. There were two other ones, and both of them have reached out to me, which has been really cool Missy Foy she was 1999, I think, and then Nicole McMere-Houston was 2016 in LA, and both were type one. So they even said, though the next level of a time drop is a huge change as well for management, but they've helped mentor me a bit. It was in Atmarcat, actually.

Speaker 3: 49:55

I met a type one cross-country runner who really started to pick my brain of what I was doing and what I could maybe do differently, but you really have to find the network almost yourself. So we do have a nonprofit diabetes sports project that I helped start, and there's about eight of us and there's no one specific runners, although we're starting to find more. I coach two girls with type one now that are trying to get their half marathon times down and run marathons. There's quite a few triathletes and Ironman athletes out there that have dealt with type one. So just finding that network and bouncing ideas off of each other, and that's kind of what the mission of Diabetes Sports Project is.

Speaker 3: 50:38

That being said, I think it's really important to have. I mean, chris, you probably realize that there's to find a CDE who knows that level of athletics is very hard to do. Mine as a kid was great. She was a runner herself but she didn't live with type one. But she was able to at least like know I was thinking very differently than a lot of the other type ones out there and we had to be very anticipatory with my blood sugars early and all of the other blood work like. So getting your labs done every two to three months, because anything like that's off balance elsewhere could also throw off your diabetes.

Speaker 2: 51:18

Well. I just going to put that out there in the world that I think I know you have your job. You are amazing digital engineer, but I think that you could as a CDE you know when the time is right for you you can really change the face of endurance sports with your firsthand knowledge that other people just simply don't have, because you have really tried and tested and worked out so many things and so many facets of this. So I think that I'll just going to put that out there in the universe for you, but you are very goal oriented.

Speaker 2: 51:46

You're very type A, as a lot of runners are. You're also very, very intelligent too. So what is your next big goal? I know you're taking vacations. You are too right now. What's next?

Speaker 3: 51:57

Yeah. So I got to get healthy first and unfortunately, the other side of diabetes is slow healing. Even as someone who has very strong diabetes management and again type A, really trying to focus on my A1C, the truth is you're heal slower as a type one and that's something else that I think people need to be aware of as they're getting in athletics with diabetes. And so, I think, get healthy, focus more on strength training, have some fun. So I'm going to go skiing and do other forms of cardio and activities for a bit, but talking to my coach like I'm not done yet, I really want to try to compete against the girls out there, and it wasn't my time to compete on Saturday. It was my time to, I think, to really like humble myself and inspire others along the way that you can finish on a hard day. But I would like to compete and I don't know what that looks like Maybe 20K championships in the fall. I was hoping to do Carl's Bad 5000 in April.

Speaker 3: 52:58

We'll see how I'm healing, but definitely looking forward to more competition and we'll see. And I think if I, depending on where I am in my life, I would love to look at 2028 and hopefully qualify a year or two in advance. I'm not crunching in a bunch of marathons at the same time, but yeah.

Speaker 1: 53:20

Well, I mean, you've been inspirational up to this point and I'm sure that will continue and we're so happy to have you. We're going to wrap this up with the questions that we ask everybody, because a lot of our listeners are amateur athletes or people like myself just can't even, john, I think 99% of our listeners are amateur. Thanks. I don't know if this is a hall. To the end I'm going to say I don't even use athlete, I just just an amateur.

Speaker 3: 53:45

Amateur, human Amateurs are where it's at.

Speaker 1: 53:49

But hey, fastest growing participatory sport in the country is distance running. So absolutely, it is where it's at.

Speaker 2: 53:56

So the beautiful thing about now with social media is that we can get in contact with people, and you actually have had people reach out to you. You know, after the race type ones, you want to talk about them.

Speaker 3: 54:05

Yeah. So I I'm not going to name them all, but there's been so many and I really want to give them all shout outs and I think time will tell. But I think the biggest one was Ila Gray, who was out there on the course and her mom, nicole, reached out to me. And then there was Addy Green and her daughter, who is nine and has been afraid to run but saw, I think, saturday, and I can't wait to see what she does next. And then there was another one, molly well man and her daughter too, and so they've all reached out to me about different things and in the running community one way or another, but their daughters are kind of learning the ropes on how to run and what's next, and so being a mentor for people like that is going to be huge going forward.

Speaker 2: 54:51

Oh my gosh, you are a huge light in this community and keep doing what you're doing. It just gives me goosebumps to think about the impact that you're having and you're also running really well. So you're changing the world and you're a badass runner, so keep doing that. Oh, thank you.

Speaker 1: 55:04

And it brings up a good point You've talked about this a little bit that you are hyper competitive and that really gets you through to the end of a race when you're not feeling great. But when you get to a hard place, let our listeners know. What do you do to work through that, to motivate yourself to get over that hump? At the 10 mile mark where you're like I'm not feeling great right now, what do you use?

Speaker 3: 55:28

You know, I think really truly ask yourself like what's the worst that could happen and not be afraid of it not going well or failing and I don't even like the failure word, but I think, just not being afraid of something, not going your way and making the most out of the day, and heck, like in CIM I thought I was having a bad day and at mile 10, I just kind of like looked up and looked at the surroundings and I was like it's a beautiful day out.

Speaker 3: 55:57

Here I'm with some amazing female athletes and the men that had kind of dropped back from the top pack were supporting us and just the camaraderie and I'm like you have to just enjoy it. And I always write a mantra for the day on my wrist and lately it's been a lot of around, like my sister and her husband they're going through some hard times right now and so just remembering, like my why is and for the type one community and and just my family and and, yeah, just if, like I'm, if I'm sitting here tomorrow, I don't want any regrets and I want to know I tried and put it all out there.

Speaker 2: 56:34

Yeah, I resonate with that. I feel like it's that kind of that concept of like we didn't come this far to only come this far right, like I'm in mile 10.

Speaker 2: 56:41

Let's get to, let's just keep going. And you have done that. And, yeah, because you made that choice there, you were able to make it to the trials, to inspire those little girls running in there on the course, and it is that sort of butterfly effect. On the last big question, you got two more questions. One's easy, I don't know if this one is hard. Your finish was probably for a lot of people, one of the most inspiring moments they saw at the race. But for you, is there an inspiring moment at a race or a distance event that resonates with you, that inspired you?

Speaker 3: 57:09

I think realizing there's so many people out there pushing through hard times and you don't really know till you have a conversation with them and everyone has a story and there's a lot of invisible diseases out there and someone said this to me at a talk I gave recently for a type one summit is diabetes is often invisible and especially when you're a kid and going through it, you don't just walk up to someone and say, hey, I have type one diabetes and then they don't even you do say that they're like okay, cool, and they don't know.

Speaker 3: 57:40

Like that's day in, day out, right, and there's so many other diseases out there or like mental health or other conditions that people are pushing through and I think a lot of them have found running to have an outlet and to show that they can do something really special with their bodies and just recognizing that on the course. And and then there's amputees one of my really good friends and amputee and so they push through that and and seeing people do that I think is truly inspiring and for me, like personally, on on Saturday, seeing other type ones out there like holding signs for me I'm not a super emotional person, but that I like put me in tears and just knowing that the type one community is like get ready to go and like that girl could be next, and giving them the hope like hey, and when you're in your 20s you could be lining up for an Olympic trials marathon and not not being afraid to do it and my family my family was there on Saturday.

Speaker 3: 58:40

So just seeing them and they know they've seen like the lows and the highs of diabetes, like for years, and so just seeing their faces and they knew, like you, they knew I was gonna finish, if Whatever it was going to finish, it was pretty cool, you know you kind of hit the nail on the head of why we started this podcast is because we hear these stories, these inspirational stories to people.

Speaker 1: 59:02

You know I'm gonna run today, I'm gonna get radiation this afternoon, I'm gonna come back tomorrow around I'm gonna get ready honestly, and it is incredibly inspiring and you, of course, inspired a lot of people and you've certainly educated us. If people want to follow you to find out more about your career and maybe some of the things you can share for for young athletes or anyone really dealing with with things like that you're dealing with, where can they find?

Speaker 3: 59:26

Instagram. I've gotten better at it. I'm trying to just get better at social media and responding, because I think it is a good platform to reach broadly. But sending me a text or my email, I don't know if you all want that and want to include it. I don't mind it all because I would love to respond.

Speaker 2: 59:44

If you want to let people know, like your email, and if they're type one and their parents and they want to reach out to you in your okay with that, go ahead and let them know.

Speaker 3: 59:50

Yeah for sure. So it's sofshunk. My last name schunk at gmailcom. Yeah, and I will respond as I can. And then also Instagram or Facebook works too.

Speaker 2: 1:00:03

Well, thank you so much, Sophie. Honestly, it was a pleasure to have you on. I really think that this is going to impact a lot of people, especially in our Red Disney community, who maybe are just like I don't think I can do this, and you're showing them the way and I know you're going to continue to do that. So, thank you, enjoy skiing, get those shoes better, and we look forward to seeing you real soon.

Speaker 1: 1:00:22

Thanks, Sophie.

Speaker 3: 1:00:22

You're awesome, best finish line ever.

Speaker 2: 1:00:26

All right, athletes, here's the drill Time to shape up your diet. Carissa, give them the goods. All right, Johnny. What's your hot take on oatmeal? Does Johnny like oatmeal?

Speaker 1: 1:00:37

Johnny loves oatmeal.

Speaker 2: 1:00:38

Irish cut steel cut Irish oatmeal is one of the staples of my breakfast along with three of wheat, three of wheat, the charms of oatmeal, the old Irish oatmeal.

Speaker 1: 1:00:50

Yep, that's my favorite. I actually had a personal trainer once who recommended a brand and I really do like it, so let me some oatmeal.

Speaker 2: 1:00:57

We call apples the toothbrush for your intestines. We can call oatmeal the cozy hug for your body. It really hugs your body. It wants you to be healthy. It's a heart health hero. Oatmeal is They've got the soluble fiber which helps to lower bad cholesterol. It's an energy booster because it's got that slow release energy what Sophie talked a little bit about. That you want we don't want to be on those blood sugar roller coasters and it's good for your gut as well. It's gentle on digestion and can help promote good gut bacteria. So I wrote this because this morning I got back on the overnight oats train. Have you been on that train?

Speaker 1: 1:01:34

My wife, the lovely and talented Jody, who's mentioned here frequently, every day.

Speaker 2: 1:01:37

The lovely and more talented than me, jody, jody, michael Gabriel, dw, sociopath. Every five episodes or we get canceled.

Speaker 1: 1:01:44

That's right.

Speaker 1: 1:01:45

We have recurring characters for the podcast and they're a part of that. But actually do you know? The first place I was introduced to overnight oats was the television show Shrinking, which is a great, great streaming series. Harrison Ford is in it and it's starring Jason Siegel. It's really, really funny. I highly recommend it. But Jason Siegel's daughter in the show mentions overnight oats several times in multiple episodes and I had no idea what it was. And now I've been introduced to it and it is a great thing to have waiting for you if you need something quick in the morning.

Speaker 2: 1:02:22

Because oatmeal takes a while to cook. Sometimes it bubbles. I think I've mentioned this before. The Galaways make oatmeal every morning and it bubbles over and it sits and sticks in my microwave.

Speaker 1: 1:02:35

Oh, we're working out some family business now, all right.

Speaker 2: 1:02:38

They're going to be here next week while I'm gone, so I can't wait to see the status of my microwave.

Speaker 2: 1:02:45

But the overnight oats are a great solution for that. I'm sure you've all made them. If you have it, you take the rolled oats and the milk. You can use Greek yogurt. I'm not a fan of the Greek yogurt so I don't use that. But that'll make it a little bit thicker. I add in chia seeds because that also absorbs some of the liquid. It makes it thicker. A pinch of salt, don't forget that. Then I'll use a little real maple syrup. This morning I put in both peanut butter and the tiniest bit of Nutella. Was quite delightful. So you put it overnight, comes home. There you go. You can. I like it. Do you like it heated or cold?

Speaker 1: 1:03:17

Either way, I usually eat it cold. It's usually a grab because I'm on the run, sort of thing. That's when we keep you, don't, you, don't, you don't deal with cold, and I like Greek yogurt too, so I'll throw that out.

Speaker 2: 1:03:25

Oatmeal's are very different. One day we should show our different oatmeal strategies to folks, but we would love to know your overnight oats recipe. Send it to us, maybe we'll share it. And if you want more recipes or you want more of these sort of quick tips not about microwave cleaning, but about good digestion and good nutrition check out Healthier you. So this is a 12-week course. The goal is nutrition education, but a lot of people find that it helps their whole family's nutrition. It can help with weight loss, with energy, with naturally lowering cholesterol. Go to GallowayCoursecom. You can always sign up, and sign up happens year round. Our group chats happen monthly. Our next one is going to be the Monday after princess. But go to GallowayCoursecom and use the code podcast to save $150. Athletes, listen up.

Speaker 3: 1:04:11

It's mail call time Announce a free present.

Speaker 1: 1:04:16

All right. Thank you, Sarge. This email comes from listener Rick and Rick parenthetically says sorry, John Pelkey, this one's for Carissa, so I guess I'll read it. So I have some part in all of this. Thanks, John. Love seeing you and hearing your voice at Disneyland. That's me. You're unbelievably kind and generous. Clearly ran into you after you'd had coffee. Thanks for the quick handshakes at the end of the 10K and a half. I'm amazed that I even I'm even known to you and you often give me a shout out gesture of recognition. That gives me great joy.

Speaker 1: 1:04:49

I'm sad to say that that half marathon may have been my last. I'm suffering from an invisible but painful disability that's prevented me from running at all. For the last eight months I've injured the tendons in my lower left leg, ankle and foot. I can most often walk pain-free, but too much walking brings on the pain and every step of three Disneyland races was painful. In spite of that, I was number one in the men's 75 to 79 division. Okay, I'm clapping for that. There were two of us in the division and that's still 75 or 79 out there doing it. Rick, I take my hat off to you. I don't generally wear one, though, because my hair is fabulous. Back to Carissa. I love your book Run Walk Eat. As soon as I can get it back for my wife, I intend to read it through a second time. Thank you for being you. I often tell people that you are the kindest person I know. Rick, thank you for the email and you should travel in wider circles.

Speaker 2: 1:05:51

Thank you for saying that, rick. Rick is someone that I have seen for years, always friendly. I always forget his wife's name, so we're not perfect, but I'm sorry, rick, that you're going through that and, just as we talked about in this podcast with Sophie, like invisible, disabilities are hard because you see someone and you don't know what they're going through and I certainly had no idea when I saw Rick three times in Disneyland, with his smile and his happy wave, that this was going to be your last times, but I'm sure that you will be able to find a way to come out and cheer and celebrate Rick. You have been a member of the Run Disney family for so many years. Thank you for the kind letter and keep doing everything that you can and celebrate that 75 to 79 division win. Wow, john, what a great episode today.

Speaker 1: 1:06:33

Wow, it really was it just again and we talked about. It's funny with Rick's email to you about the invisible things that are going on physically, with him and Sophie talking about that and bringing up the fact that that's kind of why we do this podcast is because we've heard all those stories for years. At the start line We'd ask about people's costumes, and is it?

Speaker 2: 1:06:57

your first race. We still do a little bit of costuming, but we do that as well, we do that as well.

Speaker 1: 1:07:03

But we, yeah, and we have to give credit to our good friend, Riley Claremont, as much as that pains me. He was the one who wanted to dig deeper into people's stories and that, I think, has been a positive for everyone involved. And I do think I will say this right now, chris, I think some of those stories at the start line help get other people in corrals to the finish line. It's like oh gosh. You know I'm dealing with the fact that I'm tired or my feet hurt or I have shin splints. These other people are dealing with a lot more, so let's just keep going.

Speaker 2: 1:07:37

For sure. And you guys, if you have stories, as I was in the words of Riley Claremont, if they're harrowing, if they're happy, email them to us on Instagram. We will read them and hopefully you will continue to inspire other people. It's 321gopodcast at gmailcom, or wear on Instagram at 321gopodcast. What's the news? To have control of the Instagram. I now have it, so I will actually see your messages. I'm just gonna throw the whole Galloway family under the bus today, john Woo.

Speaker 1: 1:08:04

Thanks for listening. You're making care of all family business right here.

Speaker 2: 1:08:07

Thanks for listening, guys. We'll see you real soon.

Speaker 1: 1:08:12

Bye-bye.