In A Skirt Podcast

David Chavana started running in the 1970s after he watched Frank Shorter almost win the 1976 Olympic marathon. Running became a big part of his life and it was only recently, after close to 44 years of running, that he had to stop because of a knee injury. In this episode, you’ll hear how much he loves runners and the running community and how he still finds ways to be a part of that community. In 1983, David organized a 10K in Edinburg, Texas. The 10K has been held every year since. It was first known as the All-America City 10K, but a couple of years ago the name was changed to honor David. It is now known as the David Chavana All-America City 10K.  Over the years, David has worked hard to grow and advance the race. It started out with one distance—the 10K—and a couple of hundred participants. This past year, they had more than 3,000 participants in the 10K and 5,000 in the 2-mile. And while participants had to stop at red lights and wait for traffic the first year, the race is now a certified course with

This week’s episode is a conversation I had a few days ago with Shawanna White. Shawanna is known on Instagram as @peachrunner26.2. She’s originally from Georgia, but now lives in South Carolina. Shawanna is a physical education teacher and an avid runner. She logs between 70 and 90 miles each week. She is also a serial racer and before all the races got canceled this year, she was racing almost every week.  With a marathon PR of 2:45:19, Shawanna is the 5th fastest African-American born female marathoner. In this episode, Shawanna explains how she found that out and why it matters to distinguish African-American born runners.  Shawanna is also a big proponent of slow recovery runs. Even though she’s a 2:45 marathoner, she runs several of her weekly runs at what she calls “sexy” pace—which is slower than 9:00 minutes per mile. I used her “sexy-pace” mentality when I was training for my last two marathons and really felt like it helped.    This episode is sponsored by UCAN.   Show Notes:   Ucan (use code INASK

It’s been a wild and crazy year so far. I know there is so much to be done in our world. But where to start? Today, I want to start with love. I want to truly love my neighbor. Regardless of your religion, your race, your nationality, your gender, your job, your past, your present, your friends, your family, your clothes, where you live…I know who you are and I love you. You are a human, created for a purpose, and created to love and to be loved. I am a Christian, and that means I believe that every person was created in the image of God. God is a spirit, so he has no physical image. But God is love, so we were all created in the image of love. I started this podcast a little over a year ago. The idea behind it is that I wanted to celebrate differences. To help break stereotypes. I want to continue on that mission until we can feel comfortable running with others who don’t look, act, talk, or dress like us without being fearful of them or questioning them to the point of embarrassment or staring at them and m

Today’s guest is Aaron Davis. He is a repeat guest. I had him on the podcast last July. Shortly after I published that episode, Aaron’s mom’s health declined, and she passed away from congestive heart failure in August. Right before Mother’s Day this year, Aaron heard about a group doing the Goggins Challenge. He decided to participate in honor of his mother. In this episode, Aaron tells me about the challenge, how he added a 13th run so his miles would match his mother’s age, and how he raised money through the run for the American Heart Association. Aaron’s fundraiser for the American Heart Association is still going on and I have a link in the show notes if you want to donate. He’s only a few hundred bucks short of his goal. Show Notes: Ucan (use code INASKIRT for 15% off) Follow Aaron Davis on Strava (because everyone else does) Aaron’s fundraiser (Running the Goggins Challenge for Karin)   Follow In A Skirt:   In A Skirt Website In A Skirt on Facebook In A Skirt on Instagram In A Skirt on Twitter

About a month ago, I read an article about a man named Dave Dial. Back in February, Dave ran his 200,000th mile. I saved the article and reached out to Dave shortly thereafter. I needed to talk to this guy. How long had he been at this running thing? When did he start keeping track? How long did it take him to get to 200,000 miles? Did he realize he had more miles on him than most cars? So many questions. Dave got back to me and this episode is our conversation together. If you listen, you’ll pick up on a valuable lesson from Dave. Well, you’ll probably pick up on several, but the most valuable is that it doesn’t hurt to ask. That philosophy is how Dave ended up friends with Bill Rodgers—yes, THE Bill Rodgers—and a shoe tester for Skechers.   Show Notes:   Ucan (use code INASKIRT for 15% off) Dave Dial on Facebook KTRE “Groveton man reaches his 200,000 mile running goal”   Follow In A Skirt:   In A Skirt Website In A Skirt on Facebook In A Skirt on Instagram In A Skirt on Twitter

Episode 57 – Heaven Cain (Student-Athlete Podcast) Today’s guest is a student-athlete: a middle-school football player. But unlike the great majority of football players, this one is a she!  Heaven is wrapping up her 7th grade school year. Football is her one love when it comes to sports, so, at the beginning of this school year, she set out to make the football team. This was no easy task, as you will hear her explain. But she stuck with it, and as she did, the naysayers stopped naysaying.   I first heard about Heaven when I saw portraits of her—one all dressed up like you would normally take portraits, and one in full football gear. Rachel Lout is a portrait photographer in Nacogdoches. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment, which made it unconstitutional for states to deny women the right to vote for simply being women, Rachel is working on a portrait series called “100 Years Strong.” The series celebrates today’s women and when completed, it will feature 19 women. So far,

Casey Adams owns FITT Life and Rudy Flores owns Changing Lives Dance Center. Both are located in Lufkin, Texas. Right now, with gyms closed, Casey and Rudy are keeping their clients healthy and motivated by offering unconventional ways to work out. In this episode, we talk about how to stay healthy at home, and if you watch the video version, you get to see tips from both men on what they offer on livestream workouts. Also, we talk a lot about quarantine eating and how not to feel guilty if you find yourself snacking more than normal these days!   Show Notes:   Changing Lives Dance Center Changing Lives Kidz Changing Lives Dance Center on Facebook Changing Lives Dance Center on Instagram FITT Life on Facebook FITT Life on Instagram Ucan (use code INASKIRT for 15% off)   Follow In A Skirt:   In A Skirt Website In A Skirt on Facebook In A Skirt on Instagram In A Skirt on Twitter

Kelly’s story is one of my favorite kinds of stories. It’s a story of a made-up mind.  Kelly had no athletic background at all. In fact, she has severe asthma, so intense physical exertion was a little concerning to her. But at the age of 51, she decided to train for her first 5K. When she crossed that first finish line, she was hooked. She then took up cycling and swimming as well as running and completed a number of shorter triathlon distances. Then this past fall, at the age of 55, Kelly became an Ironman. In this episode, we talk about mental endurance and how that translates over into physical endurance. We also talk about perseverance and dealing with doubts that creep into your mind when you’re preparing to do something hard.    Thank you, Kelly, for sharing your story with In A Skirt Podcast!   Show Notes:   Generation Ucan (use code INASKIRT for 15% off)   Follow In A Skirt:   In A Skirt Website In A Skirt on Facebook In A Skirt on Instagram In A Skirt on Twitter

I know life has been crazy these last few weeks. And uncertain. But the other day, a friend sent me an article she read that really made me pause and think. It’s from Real Simple Magazine and it’s by Holly Robinson. Holly wrote that running has “been the best salve for emotional turmoil.” She said that “being happens during those rare times when we’re fully conscious of our surroundings and feel connected to them. We’re all guilty of too many acts of nonbeing,” but running pauses the world and lets one be “completely in the world.”  I read those words over and over again. Pausing the world while being completely in it. You know that feeling…when you’re on a run and your senses feel so alive and there is nothing else going on at that moment except simply being…simply feeling, smelling, hearing, seeing, and being. Sometimes on early morning runs, I hear the sound of an armadillo’s claws on the road as we both startle each other. Then I smell the fresh scent of a dryer sheet as I pass a house where someone must

Today’s guest is my brother-in-law, Cassidy Riley. Cassidy is a registered nurse who works in the intensive care unit at a hospital in Louisiana, so we talk a little about that and his perspective of these crazy times we are living in.  But before he went to nursing school, Cassidy was a professional wrestler. I’ve always been intrigued by that. Wrestling is in and of itself an unconventional sport and Cassidy explains how difficult it was to get into the wrestling industry, his training, where all he traveled to, and the neat opportunities in life wrestling gave him. Cassidy and his wife are also adoptive parents. They have two beautiful girls and their adoptions created a ripple effect that normalized adoption for so many others and encouraged others to take that step as well. Thank you Cassidy! And thank you to everyone listening. I appreciate all your support. If you haven’t yet, please leave a rating and review for the show, follow me on Instagram, and share something about the podcast on social media. L

I want to celebrate what we were able to do before this virus started to affect us. And I want to look forward to better days that are coming. This episode is a conversation with Willie Fowlkes, the race director for The Woodlands Marathon. I think this race is so much fun and put on so well, so I wanted to talk to Willie about the history behind it, how he created a race through the busiest parts of The Woodlands, and what to expect next year as the race celebrates its 10th anniversary. While I’m disappointed about all the races we are having to miss right now, I am planning to run more next year…and to run with more gratitude and thankfulness.    Show Notes:   Generation Ucan (use code INASKIRT) The Woodlands Marathon   Follow In A Skirt:   In A Skirt Website In A Skirt on Facebook In A Skirt on Instagram In A Skirt on Twitter

Last fall, I heard about a woman named Sister Stephanie Baliga. Runner’s World ran a feature about her and a couple of listeners sent me the Runner’s World video. I reached out to Sister Stephanie back then, but the fall was a really busy time for her. You’ll hear in this episode that she has a full plate. God works in mysterious ways, though. I believe that things didn’t work out last fall to get her on the podcast because now is the better time to have Sister Stephanie on this show. Hearing someone talk about God’s divine providence at this time is something I needed.  Years ago, Sister Stephanie was simply Stephanie. She was a standout cross country runner in high school and college. She had all sorts of ambitions for her life after college, but her sophomore year, while recovering from a running injury, she came to a realization about running. She had a God-given talent and she was using that talent to bring herself glory. Over the course of a spiritual journey, she changed her mind about her future. Afte

Beatie Deutsch is today’s guest! Beatie was one of my inspirations for starting this podcast. In early 2019, she won the Israeli national marathon championship with a time of 2:42. She made headlines after she won that championship, and a picture of her standing on the podium in her skirt while holding one of her children made running news all over the world. I was amazed at what Beatie had accomplished…in a skirt…and knew as soon as I saw that picture of her that I had to do something to celebrate people like Beatie.  Beatie is 30-years old and a mother of five children. In this episode, Beatie explains why she started running four years ago, how she’s gone from a 3:27 marathon to a 2:32, why she runs in a skirt, and her goals for the future.  Beatie is one of those people who speaks positivity to herself and to others. She doesn’t dwell on negative “what ifs” and instead prefers to concentrate on what she can handle and who is really in control of her life—God. She has had an amazingly successful year, but

I want to be your cheerleader. I want to be your encourager. I want to yell for you so loudly that I drown out the noise of the doubt. And I want you to do the same for someone else. We were never meant to do life alone. Any part of it. Block the winds for others and let them block the winds for you.    Show Notes:   Register for CASA of the Pines Superhero Run CASA of the Pines Superhero Run Info   Follow In A Skirt:   In A Skirt Website In A Skirt on Facebook In A Skirt on Instagram In A Skirt on Twitter

Erica Kirkwood was my Episode 43 guest. She qualified for the Olympic Trials when she broke 2 hours and 45 minutes at Grandma’s Marathon last summer. This past Saturday, Erica, and hundreds of other men and women from across the country, participated in the Olympic team trials for the marathon. Out of the runners who qualified and showed up in Atlanta to run the team trials, only three men and three women could make the team. The three women who made the team are Aliphine Tuliamuk, Molly Seidel, and Sally Kipyego.  Erica ran hard and tough. She crossed the finish line in under three hours, which is an impressive time in and of itself, but in this case, especially impressive. In this recap, Erica explains how tough the course was, the weather conditions that made running many times more difficult, how many women dropped out of the race, and how amazing it was to be part of such a historical race. As I explained in Episode 43, this is only the tenth time women have been allowed to run the marathon at the Olympi

Episode 47 – Seth & Hannah Thompson (Race for Hope) Seth and Hannah Thompson live in Lufkin and both ran the 5K at the Race for Hope. They have been married for four years and have a three-year old son. In the short time they have been married, life has put the two of them through the wringer. Since 2017, the couple has heard, “you have cancer” a combined three times. And then last year, after the strangest of accidents, Seth woke up and found himself being life-flighted to a hospital. That wringer, though, has been no match for their strength and determination. Seth and Hannah choose to love their lives, remain positive, enjoy each day, and cling closely to each other and their son. This couple’s grit and outlook on life are inspiring.  Here is my conversation with them.   Show Notes:   East Texas Cancer Alliance of Hope Team Thompson Miracles for Mason Register for CASA of the Pines Superhero Run CASA of the Pines Superhero Run Info   Follow In A Skirt:   In A Skirt Website In A Skirt on Facebook In A S

Sometimes life gives you lemons and you don’t get a “real” podcast episode out.    Show Notes:   Race for Hope Registration Race for Hope Info Register for CASA of the Pines Superhero Run CASA of the Pines Superhero Run Info   Follow In A Skirt:   In A Skirt Website In A Skirt on Facebook In A Skirt on Instagram In A Skirt on Twitter

The 5K has become such a popular race distance. You can find multiple 5Ks year-round all across the country. They’re fun to run. They’re fun to walk. They’re fun as community builders.  But we rarely know the stories behind them…behind each individual 5K. The reason for the race and what the funds are being used for. I’ve been trying to get you all to sign up for the Race for Hope for months now. And there’s still time to sign up, by the way. The 5K, half, and full marathon will be held February 22nd in Lufkin and the link to register is in my show notes. But do you know the purpose of the Race for Hope? To raise money for East Texas Cancer Alliance of Hope. A few years ago, Ashley Berry faced a cancer diagnosis. As she went through treatment, her community stepped in and helped her financially. She’s now been cancer free for five years and she formed East Texas Cancer Alliance of Hope to help others in her community who are fighting cancer by providing groceries, or gas money, or school clothes for their kid

Know your strengths. Remind yourself of them. Recognize your effort. Tell yourself what you’re capable of. And if things get hard, just smile and remind yourself that you’re doing so good.   Show Notes:   Race for Hope Registration Race for Hope Info   Follow In A Skirt:   In A Skirt Website In A Skirt on Facebook In A Skirt on Instagram In A Skirt on Twitter

Community. That’s the word that kept popping into my head when I was talking to Erica Kirkwood. The power of community. The power of encouraging people speaking positivity into a life. A lot of people are strong on their own, but a community can take that strength and turn it into something phenomenal.  Erica is a talented and hardworking runner. She is also a wife, mother of two, and occupational therapist. And she is also an Olympic Trials qualifier, having broken 2:45 at Grandma’s Marathon last year.  In this episode, she tells me about every person who has pushed her and encouraged her and helped her along the way. Her community. That, along with her hard work ethic and personal mantra—“Why not me?”—has helped her get faster and faster. I really think you’re going to love this episode. Erica is inspiring and fun to get to know. Cheer her on in a few weeks as she runs in Atlanta with the best of the best in America at the Olympic Marathon Trials.   Show Notes:   Erica Kirkwood on Instagram Generation UCan