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Episode 048: Gary Robbins -- Ultra-runner, The Barkley Marathons

Release Date: 05/03/2017

Episode 071: Dr. Russ Kennedy -- The Anxiety MD

What we cover: In this moment, we are safe. Today's guest is Dr Russ Kennedy – someone I have known since 2004, when I launched my brief stint into the stand up comedy world. Russ was a fellow comic, and I got to know him then, and I always really liked him. I eventually set that aside as I evolved as a writer and instead focused more on my foray into the world of one-woman shows – but Russ remained in my orbit because my brother Julien Dionne and his girlfriend Jennifer Grant are comics and so I continued to see Russ perform over the years. The thing I dug about Russ is that he wasn’t...

Episode 070: Stacey Shand -- Ultra-distance athlete and adventurer

What we cover: "I took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference." -- Robert Frost Today’s guest is Stacey Shand. If there is a woman more easy to have a Girl Crush on that Stacey Shand, I have yet to meet her. Stacey is an ultra-extreme endurance athlete and adventurer. She is affectionately known as ‘Racey Stacey’, and she has been keeping a promise she made to herself from her hospital bed following a near tragic auto accident a number of years ago. When she was faced with the realities of what could have been, she vowed never to take her physical abilities --...

Episode 069: Kevin Reynolds -- Olympic Figure Skater

What we cover: "Take the past for what it is. And then, focus on moving forward." -- Kevin Reynolds Today's guest is Kevin Reynolds. He is, of course, the Canadian figure skating super star who won silver at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, as part of the mixed team event. According to the official Olympics athlete site, he is the first skater in the world to ever land a quad-triple-triple combination, and in 2010 he became the first man ever to land two quadruple jumps in the short program – and we talk about all that goodness. But this is by no means just a talk about skating. You...

Episode 068: Sherry Strong -- Chef, Nutritionist, Food Philosopher

What we cover: “Addiction is the body’s way of telling you that you’re not listening to your soul.” – Sherry Strong Today's guest is Sherry Strong – and strong she is. She is a woman who, after 35-years of playing the “victim”, which so many of us are guilty of from time to time – and who also struggled with an addiction to sugar to numb the sadness, took a good look in the mirror and said enough is enough. She was, as she puts it: “sick, obese, tired, and wanted to die.” Today, she is a professional chef, a nutritionist, and a food philosopher – and she can fit...

Episode 067: Mary-Jo Dionne -- writer/speaker/performer/podcaster

What we cover: In the interest of full disclosure, I have been ridiculously spread thin – as we all can get from time to time – and completely run down, wrapping up deadlines before I shut the office down until the new year. I have been up late into the night with a sick 2-year-old. And I have been going through this incredibly heavy sadness on account of learning that someone I cared for very much in my high school life, died – but the thing of it all is that he died many years ago. Nearly 25, in fact. And I only just found out. Grieving after-the-fact is a strange and lonely...

Episode 066: Anna Rice -- Two-time Olympic badminton player

What we cover: “The most important things I’ve learned in life, I’ve learned on the badminton court.” – Anna Rice Today’s Guest Titan is two-time Olympian, Anna Rice – a woman who admits that, as far as life goes, everything she’s learned so far, she’s learned on the badminton court. This is a woman who is ripe with insights, and who possesses a calm wisdom that I found quite intoxicating, really. I know you’re going to love her. This isn’t really a conversation about badminton, so much as it is a conversation about our own thought processes, the stories we...

Episode 065: Mary-Jo Dionne -- host, Tea with a Titan

What we cover: "You have to lose sight of the shore, to discover new lands." -- Andre Gide, paraphrased For those of you who listen to the show on a regular basis, it’s not news that I am a huge proponent of perspective shifting. And of gear shifting. Of being adaptable and of having the ability to readjust as needed. As we were planning our recent trip to California, I had a couple leads with amazing LA-based Guest Titans, both of which didn’t end up panning out at the last minute. Because we couldn’t get schedules to align. At first I was a bit disappointed, but that...

Episode 064: Karin Fortin Jackson -- Part Two ("After") Triathlete / Weight loss success story

What we cover: "For temporary results, commit to temporary changes. For permanent results, commit to permanent ones." -- Karin Fortin Jackson, 3-time Ironman finisher, who lost 120 pounds In 18 months of conversations with people I admire, this might rank as my most favourite chat yet. And I say that with the full admission that I have loved every one of my Guest Titan encounters. Karin Fortin Jackson is so honest, so unassuming, so humble, so candid. She allows us a private peek inside her very personal journey – a journey that has a clear “before” and a clear...

Episode 063: Karin Fortin Jackson -- Triathlete / Weight loss success story (Part One: Before)

Episode 063: Karin Fortin Jackson -- Triathlete / Weight loss success story (Part One: Before)

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What we cover: "You can do this. You will do this." -- Gary Robbins

Every once in a while you have a conversation with a person – a person so exceptional, that’s the only word for it – that the stories they tell are universal in that they tap into the humanity of it all. Gary Robbins is one such person and the conversation we had is one such chat.

Despite the fact that Gary is as decorated an ultra-distance runner as they come, this is an episode that explores deeper themes. A one-time self-admitted professional partier, Gary eventually traded in the cans of beer for a pair of running shoes, and embarked on a journey of personal transformation that is astounding to say the least. He walks us through what it felt like – the courage it took – to walk the road less travelled, to leave his home in Newfoundland in search of a non-traditional life and the decisions he had to make in order to stay true to that journey. He talks about the value in being in the right relationship when it comes to achieving an authentic life. And more than all this, he gives us a candid and inside look at quite likely this planet’s most mysterious adventure race, recently popularized by the Netflix documentary of the same name: The Barkley Marathons, a 5-lap, 100-mile course through the most unforgiving Tennessee terrain and in often-times the most bleak conditions imaginable. Gary, a two-time racer in this sadistic endeavor, walks us through the gritty details, what goes into preparing for it, how he handles the times of darkness – and his mantra: “You can do this. You will do this. You can do this. You will do this.” It will be a while before my fingernails grow back. He is an epic storyteller, which comes with being an east coaster, I suspect. To give you a sense of just how arduous the Barkley is, in its 30 years of existence, it has seen only 15 finishers. Fifteen. And yet today, people around the planet clamor to be selected as one of the 40 athletes who participate each year.

And while he certainly shares some vivid and heart-stopping imagery, the details which actually occasionally made me feel physically ill on account of the sheer depths of suffering one has to subject themselves to in order to even finish one lap of this event – at the end of the day, this is a conversation about what it takes to create the person we want to become. And isn’t that something we can all relate to? This is, without a doubt,a peek into the mind, the toughness and the motivation of someone who is truly exceptional. That’s the only word for a guy like Gary Robbins. Well, that and titan, of course.

MJDionne.com

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