Intrinsic Drive®

The Gift of Good Work with Sara Slattery

March 23, 2022 Phil Wharton - Wharton Health Season 3 Episode 1
Intrinsic Drive®
The Gift of Good Work with Sara Slattery
Show Notes Transcript

Sara Slattery  learned the importance of hard work from her father, watching him wake up at 4am while running his sign business.  She began her athletic career as a swimmer, training twice daily for several hours before and after school.  She joined her high school track team, merely as a way to stay in shape for swimming. As a freshman, she was state runner up in both the 800 and 3200 meters. This rising star realized she needed to focus her energy on running, training alongside her high school coach, Sabina Robinson—then 42 years old—a masters champion and Olympic trials marathon qualifier. Sara’s work ethic and talent yielded twelve state high school championships and one national junior championship.

 Sara tells us of the challenges she faced after she sustained a serious injury during her senior year at the University of Colorado.  Once again, her work ethic - specifically her swimming background and ability to cross-train paid dividends; with very little running base she capped her outstanding, 11-time All-American collegiate running career with a victory in the 2005 NCAA 10k. 

Today Sara is the men’s and women’s head distance coach at Grand Canyon University in her hometown of Phoenix, Arizona.  She wanted to create a similar environment of excellence she experienced under Coach Wetmore at CU.  She recently collaborated with fellow elite runner and Olympian Molly Huddle on their new book How She Did It - just released this month, March 2022. Sara’s book is an essential guide for female athletes navigating the world of competitive running. 

During her post-collegiate professional running career, Sara posted personal bests of 4:32 in the mile, 15:08 in the 5,000meters, and 31:57 in the 10k. This inspirational athlete was the 2007 Pan American Games 10k Champion,  2008 USA 8k Champion, and an alternate for the 2008 Olympic team. 

It was a pleasure to spend a moment in Sara’s busy life, she is the mother of Steve, Cali, and married to former world-class Steeplechaser Steve Slattery. We are honored to welcome Sara to this episode of Intrinsic Drive™. 


Intrinsic Drive™ is produced by Ellen Strickler and Phil Wharton. Special thanks to Andrew Hollingworth, our sound engineer and technical editor.  For more information on this and other episodes visit us at www.whartonhealth.com/intrinsicdrive   Follow us on socials (links below) including   Instagram  @intrinsicdrivelive 

Phil Wharton:

A lifetime of training, practice, study, hard work through discipline, some achieve excellence, mastery, fulfillment, self actualization. What can we learn from their beginnings discoveries, motivations and falls? How do they dust themselves off and resume their journey. During these interviews, stories and conversations, we reveal their intrinsic drive. Sara Slattery began her athletic career as a swimmer, training twice daily for several hours before and after school. Learning the importance of hard work from her father, watching him rise at four am while running his sign business. Sarah joined her high school track team merely as a way to stay in shape for swimming. As a freshman she was state runner up in both the 800 and 3200 meters. This rising star realized she needed to focus her energy on running. While a student athlete the University of Colorado, Sara capped her outstanding 11 time all American collegiate running career with a victory in the 2005 NCAA 10k. Today, Sara is the men's and women's head distance coach at Grand Canyon University in her hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. It was a pleasure to spend a moment in Sara's busy life. She is the mother of Steve, Cali, and married to former world class steeplechaser Steve Slattery. We are honored to welcome Sara to this episode of intrinsic drive. Sara, thanks so much for taking the time to catch up with us today. I know your time is so valuable. You're so busy these days with all the things that you do between family and coaching and your own health and wellness with it just thanks for coming to intrinsic drive. No, thank you so much for having me. I'm a big fan of this show. I love

Sara Slattery:

I do a little bit of driving, and I still run quite a bit. And I love listening to podcasts and yours. Yours is one of my favorites. And it was an honor to be asked on today to to be a guest. So thank you so much Phil.

Phil Wharton:

Oh, thanks Sara, thanks for that. Let's go right into your beginning the genesis, take us to the beginning of your journey, when did it start for you?

Sara Slattery:

so I ran cross that next fall and ended up making footlocker and then I was like, Okay, I made nationals my first year, then I made it. So then that's when I was like, Alright, I'm gonna commit fully to running and stop, swim, my focus on swimming. I did continue, in the offseason swimming every year. So I would swim in the winters, and some in the summer. But I was more dedicated to running. So that's kind of that's kind of how I figured I think making the not making footlocker as a sophomore in my first season. Really, it was like, open my eyes, Hey, I have more talent in this, I should put more focus in it and really see what I can do in the sport.

Phil Wharton:

Yeah, that that feels so right. That feels Sara, like your discovery. You're learning through these experiences and events that being second at the National Championship footlocker and cross country, you realize, okay, now, you know, I still love swimming. But now swimming, maybe is more conditioning, it becomes right? is maybe transition in more the conditioning. And now your focus is is the running the track and cross country. Who are your mentors, coaches and teachers and what was revealed with them?

Sara Slattery:

So like, early on, I definitely say like my swim coaches were, I had Steve Schaefer and Glen Coy when he was there other coach there. They were very positive role models. They taught me about goal setting. They had a great age group program in swimming. So I really learned a lot through that. My high school coach was Sabrina Robinson, formerly Peters. She ran at ASU and she also ran professionally. She was a huge mentor to me like she was. I wouldn't have gone to footlocker that first season. She first it was her first season coaching at my high school my sophmore year. So I really think she helped me a ton, like open the door for me and then continue to help me grow a lot in my running. And I had never had a woman coach and she was my first woman coach, and she was the toughest one of the toughest coaches I had, but also like, I'm just like, someone I could relate to and someone that, really, really helped me grow as a person and as an athlete, and she I got to see like she she was running masters races, she was 40 when she was coaching me. Made the Olympic trials in the marathon that season, and she would run with me all the time on workouts and she was also she was a mom of two, and she was she was a teacher and so She worked and she had, she's raising the kids. And she continued running. And I just thought that was so amazing the way she balanced everything. And she had such a positive attitude and loved, loved life. That it really made me want to be like her. She was just this amazing person and she is still just amazing person and role model.

Phil Wharton:

Wow. So she was doing all these things. Maybe that was the 2000 Olympic trials that was maybe right

Sara Slattery:

2000 Olympic Trials Marathon and I think she

was 41 and ran 2:42 or 2:

44.

Phil Wharton:

That's amazing to balance all those things to be a mother to be a coach to you first year coaching, also an elite athlete. And now you're looking at that and you're seeing all these things. Hey, look, this is me down the road. I want to follow in those footsteps. And she's reaching a hand to you there. I think that's, that's fabulous.

Sara Slattery:

Yeah, so she I attribute a lot to her. And I'm still we're still super close. She lives in Colorado. And I get to see her a couple times a year. But yeah, she still running she still like she actually broke her foot recently. And she's not like she had to stop for a little bit. But um, she's Yeah, she's still like a very close friend of mine. And that's great. Yeah, he was a big mentor. And, and then. Yeah, and then. And then of course, my dad, I think my dad was someone that I could always, my mom was always really encouraging. But I like I connected with my dad and a lot of the way that we thought and like, he was someone that I could always talk to, when I was struggling or excited about something or just wanted to talk about goals like he was, he was just he would, he didn't really know anything about running but he could translate that he he had dealt with like he was going through and the use that same those same motivations roll over to your whole life. So he was he's just really good person for me to connect with and talk to about the things that I was facing.

Phil Wharton:

Those things that are most important, like a life coach. Someone to lean on and give you those. It's amazing. The drive Sara, what, at this point urged you forward? Now you're, you're coming into almost going to University of Colorado, coming out as now a very high level in high school, you won, what 10 high school state championships or something in that nature. What's urging you forward? What were some of the external and internal forces and motivations during this time in your life?

Sara Slattery:

You know, I think when I really I really just wanted to be good at something like I wanted to be, I just wanted to, like, stand out. I wanted that to be swimming, it wasn't swimming, and then I saw this, this opportunity, it was running. And so like, I always felt like I was talented. But I was like, I don't ever want to be the person that, doesn't work. You know, I want to be the hardest worker out there. And I saw, how hard my dad and my dad was, like, you know, there's a lot of people that that can do things but just won't put their put the effort forward to be to be great at something. And so, I in, in you know, like, to be honest, my freshman year, when I was making that transition from, swimming to running, I got a little bit burned out. And I was hanging out with the wrong crowd. Like a lot, like I was going to hang out with, like older girls on the team, like some older people on my high school track team and going to parties and kind of like, seeing but I was like, oh, like I haven't been able to do that. You know, like, a lot of people do this in high school like I should. It would be fun. Like, I want to do this it looks like it's fun. But I was noticing like when I was going to do all these things. It was the same people at these places like nothing wrong with them, and I I was friends with them throughout high school, but they were doing things that weren't helping them get to the goals that I wanted to get to and like it was the same people every weekend partying doing the same things. And I was like, this is this isn't the path that. I don't know this isn't the path that's going to take me to where I want to go and and I see I'm wasting my time if I don't put my full self forward so

Phil Wharton:

it's amazing that you witnessed that

Sara Slattery:

to me like I kind of had to and it wasn't like my parents telling me, like yelling at me or tell my parents really didn't. Like I kind of did like I just it was kind of eye opening in myself seeing like, I'm wasting my time if I don't if I don't get on the right path right now.

Phil Wharton:

Yeah, you saw it

Sara Slattery:

Yeah, once I made that decision, I was very clear on like, there was like, you know, things that there's disappointments along the way. But I was like, I'm way further ahead. Than I would be if I was not, but if I was not putting that effort forward, and so like, it wasn't hard for me to go, overcome those things, because I knew like it would come if I kept working hard.

Phil Wharton:

That's right. And so you, you quickly, were able to kind of I love that you're kind of self correcting, just by the, it wasn't like this big parental lockdown or, you know, okay, now there's a curfew or all these things or it was you're on your own so that there's an internal shift, which is obviously more sustainable. You knew what you wanted, you saw, okay, this is going to lead to x, I really want to be here and this other zone of reaching my goals, and, you know, and working towards this excellence process that you're doing and getting better.

Sara Slattery:

Yeah, and I think now as a parent, and even as a head coach, those lessons, I think I have to stop myself a lot of times with overcorrecting, like with my kids, and with my athletes, because it's hard. It's hard to watch. Yeah, to watch your athletes, or your children go through those things like and when, you know, they shouldn't be doing certain things. And obviously, there's times where you need to correct and there's just, you know, like, actions. Sure, but I feel like the biggest my biggest moments of where I was, like turning points for myself, were when I had those self realization things where it came intrinsically and not from not through someone else. So

Phil Wharton:

Wow, well said, if we all just take that hands off approach and allow God and the greater, you know, angels of our nature take over, you know, and hopefully that, but as you setting those examples, so your parents set those amazing examples and through their work ethic to their to their drives, seeing your father wake up at 4am and seeing how, okay, going through all these obstacles and those those bad days. And in a lot of the failures and the losses, it's not easy starting your own business. This is not yeah.

Sara Slattery:

Yeah, he well, he started it and the his partner took off with their, with their company, li with half of the whole company. So my dad, that's that when he partnered with him, that was his drive to like, start his own thing, but they had to start from nothing. So it was like, that was his motivation to really, really work hard on his own. And so that was a hard, I think, a hard thing that I saw him go through that. I was like, I knew, I didn't really know, I was young at the time. But now like, as I got older, I understood more. But yeah, those those moments are really like, you learn. Those struggles are when you learn the most about yourself and like how you can handle situations and how strong you really are.

Phil Wharton:

And they actually come to define you. They define you and they make you the person you are. And so now I've realized, I'm grateful for those challenges that were so devastating in the moment that I didn't understand. But it's all part of this shaping this, you know, to be a better person to, to get outside of myself and be more of service to others and, and elevate people around me and all those good things that you don't see when you're in the world of self serving. So this is so powerful. Sara, what about take us to the fall. What's the lowest moment for you in your career or life? Was there a major inciting event or moment there?

Unknown:

I think there was, there was a couple of my running career that were really tough. I think in college. I had a lot of injuries in college. Some of them were easier. I tore my planter a couple of times and that wasn't terrible, like it took months to get off and then get it's kind of like having a stress fracture where you just have to take the time let it heal and do the rehab to come back. But I had a major surgery halfway through like my junior year, and I I completely ruptured my posterior tib tendon. They had to reattach it to my flexor digitorum and I really, um, they weren't sure if I would be able to run on it again. And I was determined, and I had a good surgeon that I saw, but to rehab process back in the post op, recovery wasn't great. And I had a lot of scar tissue buildup on my along along the incision and in my ankle, and it wasn't quite it wasn't moving correctly and I it was very stiff and I I returned to running a lot sooner probably then I should have. And so I kept getting rehab I had I had four, three or four stress fractures in a year and span right after having that surgery or maybe a year span. After having that surgery I just kept, it was compensating. And I just, I'd ramp things up, and I'd get a stress fracture, I'd ramp things up again and get a stress fracture, and it really wasn't until and I I know like I feel like I know. Alberto has like a like right now bad name, but he was a really good person to Steve and I and I had met when I was interning at I was interning at Nike my junior the summer my junior year. Steve was looking at possibly going out to the Nike Oregon Project when he was going pro. And he reached out to me when he found out that I had been hurt. Like I kept getting hurt. And he was the first person that introduced me to active release therapy. Yeah. So I started getting ART,and I got like all that scar tissue on my own. But Dan Pbaft at the time. So Dan, and Alberto and like, Justin, who's in I can't think of his last name. And he's an active release therapist. In Portland, they he like my ankle started moving correctly again. And I was I was finally able to start running normally and get my gait back. And and I had also I went to down to Indianapolis to see oh, shoot, this is going to their St. Vincent's sport medicine.

Phil Wharton:

Yeah, they had a great center there

Sara Slattery:

I did some, I did a bunch of testing and how they helped me with my gait. And after that, my senior season, I was going into my, I almost wanted going into that senior year and had those four stretch fractures in a row. And I wasn't even sure if I was going to be able to run. And my senior season off of the month training in cross country. I helped our team as an All American again, and I helped our team I just cross trained, and I helped our team win our second national championship for women. And then I had to take like, I had to continue cross training through the winter. And it wasn't until about February that we got everything working correctly with my foot. And then I won my second national title in the 10k. But I had been doing a ton of cross training, like at least two hours a day at cross training. And I wanted that I moved up from being a miler, my freshman year to the 10k my senior year, just because I had a great aerobic system from all the cross training.

Phil Wharton:

Yeah, and you had that background from swimming. So you're used to as a kid growing up with like, four hours a day, there's, they tell you, Hey, let's do two hours a day is like no problem. I'm there.

Sara Slattery:

think so. Yeah. So I was I was been and I but yeah, I attribute like, that was like kind of a big turning point for me. And I wasn't sure if I was gonna I really wanted to run as a pro and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to and, and, and I almost I almost quit going into my senior year, but I was so just because I didn't know if my body could handle it. I just like with my ankle and everything and I kept getting these stress fractures. Like, I wasn't sure if it was in the cards anymore. I almost I they had been offered a contract to be a triathlete with USA Triathlon with my swimming background. They were going to pay me they had a good contract for for developing junior athletes and so I turned, I thought about it and I ended up turning it down once I won the NCAA title because I wanted to see what I could continue doing in running and I felt like I hadn't had like a long enough period where I was healthy that I could continue running. And I felt like now that I had had my ankle fixed, I could start putting in that work. And I went after doing that four years without having any injuries, once I got the ART on my ankles, so I think that was a big turning point for me.

Phil Wharton:

That sounds like it feels like your pivot. I mean, that steered you back on course, that turn you around, even was one month of cross training to come back. I mean, being out of the game, lower leg injuries at high altitude are very tough, we don't get the vascularization to the lower leg. So we're not getting the pump into the heart. So we have a lot of people that have to actually leave altitude, that wasn't an option for you because you're in school at CU. We had people in Flagstaff, we had to get them out of altitude just to recover from Achilles or posterior tib, or lower leg injuries.

Sara Slattery:

Yeah, I didn't know that.

Phil Wharton:

Yeah, because of the hypoxic conditions. It makes alot of sense, yeah. It places where and then you're standing all day on on the feet and ankle joint. And then. So now you've got the mobility, we have these mentors coming up between Justin and Dan Pabth, and Alberto helping you and the group in Indianapolis and now the axis of henke we call it has to pivot, the ankle joint has to pivot. And there, there can't be any scar tissue around that malleolus, that gets congested. And now all sudden, in just one month of this cross training, you win the NCAA. And that's a big decision to to look at what's on the table from USA Triathlon and say, look, I want to invest in myself, and kudos to you for moving forward on that path. Let's look at the roll back. I mean, if you had the opportunity, would you redo or do something differently in your career or life?

Sara Slattery:

I think post collegiately I think I wouldn't change anything. Like I was very grateful for my time, like, as a swimmer and then transitioning to running and on my high school coach in my college experience. Mark and Heather and, and Jason Drake was also there. Like it was. It was a great program. Like when I was looking at schools, like when I went, I looked at a lot of big schools and Stanford was one of them. And it came down to Stanford and Colorado. But the main thing I wanted when I went to college and I and this is a big reason, Molly and I were writing this writing our book, How She Did It, is at that time, there was a lot of high school phenoms that would go on to college and never run to the same level and, and never make it kind of post collegiately. And we're looking, we're also looking like there's Molly Sidel is the second woman to win footlocker and make an Olympic team. And there's been over a dozen men. And so we were when I was looking at college, I wanted to continue to improve. And I wanted to go somewhere where the coach cared about me and whether I was running or not running. And it was a place that I liked being there. And I had teammates that support me. And I had amazing team. I had an amazing team like George and Ed Torres. And, you know, I met my husband there and there's, there's some of my best friends to this day. And I'm very grateful for that. And my coaches, Mark taught me so much as a coach as an athlete, but also now in my coaching. He's a huge mentor to me with coaching and I can't you know, I, I had a lot of bumps in the road, but I I think that's a part of it, you know, and I think I learned a lot about myself and, as an athlete, how to handle myself and it helped me later on in, in my professional career, but also my, my coaching career.

Phil Wharton:

Sara, I love this quote that you had and you probably don't remember, but you were giving an interview. You said, I tell my athletes, your teammates are your family, I love that. You know, it just it makes total sense. It's what we taught when we came to Flagstaff and and it was like kind of a second renaissance and it was like, okay, Mike Smith moved in and and Michael Freidberg who'd been a great CU athlete Yeah, also who kind of represents that person coming from okay, you

know, 9:

36 high school two miler to two- time All- American, you know, because he followed the system and he worked hard, and he stayed in there and did those Sunday long runs and all those things and, and so I just love that and say, hey, look, you know, what you said was, yeah, you're not going to get along with everybody all the time. But if you respect to each other and try to help make each other better, and elevate each other. I think that was really cool what you said,

Sara Slattery:

Yeah, and I, I feel very grateful at, at Grand Canyon, I I get to be the head coach of both the men's and women's team. And we're a combined program. And, and I really treat we treat each other, I don't have huge numbers, like I try to keep it around 30. 15 and 15. So that I can give them attention, but we do everything we try to do everything together. I mean, COVID made it more difficult. For sure. But, um, it's yeah, they're, I think they learn a lot from having each other around, they respect each other, they see the hard work that they're all putting in together. And they all play an important role in the team. Like, and, and so I and that's how it was, I try to, I'm trying to mimic some of the things that were, were really important to me as an athlete when I was at CU.

Phil Wharton:

Yeah, no, that makes total sense. And you, you all really embraced suffering and is it people on the outside, so okay, there comes the buffs just gonna come and roll over. But you're not at those early morning Sunday runs when you got to go up the canyon to Nederland, right and run Mag road and all those things. I mean, it's that that's what forges you that it doesn't matter that you're coming in, and you're All- American, all those things, you have to go in and do the work day in and day out. And I just think if we look at the anvil, that take us to an event or decision that forged you a defining moment that shaped your destiny.

Sara Slattery:

The biggest decision probably that point where like it was when I was really struggling. That senior year. And this has been a couple of times in my career with my husband, Steve, like, where he's seen me, like, he sees how hard I work. But like he saw me, he didn't have as many injuries as I did. And he saw He saw me struggle really hard, because I really wanted to be there. Like I wanted to do that. And I was I wasn't sure if like, I was questioning whether I could handle it, or my body couldn't handle it. And he was it was like that. I was feeling sorry for myself that season. And I was like, I like why, like maybe I should just quit like or go. Like, I even thought about just leaving the team and running Pro or like, you know, like not being funny. He's like, Sarah, you have one year left, like you have this last year left. Why don't you put, why wouldn't you put everything you have into the season and just see what happens like, don't like, don't, if it doesn't come through, like you're not you're not losing anything. But if it does, like you're gonna gain a whole lot of stuff. So like, you have nothing to lose, if you just put yourself out there and put everything into it. And then just having that conversation, I think, um, made it very clear to me, like, why am I worried about this like, or why am I overthinking this at this point, and, um, it made it very easy for me to put that effort forward. But it took me like, I think kind of, I had to snap out of that mentality of like, Why me? And why why? Why is all this stuff happening to me, which is very easy to happen. And like, an especially like, I see it in a lot of ways now when we're dealing with a lot of things that are out of our control. And so I think that was probably the biggest, the best advice I could have gotten and I use that in a lot of things that I deal with presently and I think I was very grateful I like Steve was there for me and and really snapped me out of that moment.

Phil Wharton:

Yeah, that's just such a blessing to have someone that close to you that connected your best friend, you know, future husband saying hey, look, you can do this, let's just let's clear the slate and get this focus and just opened up a whole new window for you. Just just platform. Your journey Sara, what's most important to you now? What does the road ahead look like for you and what's next?

Sara Slattery:

I think I'm really excited. Well, Molly and I, our book is coming out in March. So that's that's a goal like kind of our that was our COVID goal. We kind of decided to write it before we knew COVID was coming on and then it really became our project during that so that's like something that we really wanted to do to help other girls in the future. That we want to be a very we want it to be a very there's been a lot of negative talk about women's running or the things like the journeys that a lot of girls things that they've gone through. Where we see running as a very powerful, tool that has helped us in so many ways in our lives. And we want this book to be powerful for other girls and to help them know like they are going to face things along the way. But here's 50 women that have, dealt with those things, but been done well at every level, like high school, college and beyond. And here's the things that they faced and how they overcame them and the things that you can do to help yourself in your career. So that's exciting for us. And I hope it's a tool for other girls and, and then my team like this is we have a full season, indoor and outdoor this year and I have like a good really good group of guys. They're juniors, like a really strong group of men this year that I'm excited about indoor and outdoor season and qualifying some kids to regionals and possibly nationals. Things some school records, our girls seems a young team, but we have a talented team of women and they're really coming up so that they motivate me and get me excited. Every day like and having I have Sara Hall's daughter on my team, which is really fun.

Phil Wharton:

How old is she now?

Sara Slattery:

She's a she's a sophomore this year. But she red shirted, she didn't run much her freshman year last year. So she's just starting to like start and get into things. And then I have a girl that transferred from Florida State and she's run like 16 flat for 5k so we're okay. Okay. We have some young girls too. So it'll be fun. Like it's fun to watch them grow and develop and and do some things like that they didn't think we're possible. So that'll be fun and and then for myself, like I think just coaching in the book, and then I have my kids getting really involved in sports too. So that's, it's just fun watching their journey and watch them develop as kids.

Phil Wharton:

How old are your children now? How old is Steve? And how old is Cali now?

Sara Slattery:

Steven's eight and Cali is six. So they're in third and first grade.

Phil Wharton:

That's amazing. And as we look into the slipstream thinking about parting gems of advice you'd like to leave for us any any words of wisdom and parting gems of advice?

Sara Slattery:

Okay, well, I think my favorite quote, and it's my, it's probably my favorite writer and I listened to his podcast a lot Jocko Willink , but he always says, " don't expect to be motivated every day. Because you won't be, but it's not motivation that makes you great. It's discipline and putting in the work day in and day out no matter what". And so, I think that was something I learned early in swimming. That was something I learned from my dad, that was something I learned from Mark Wetmore. Um, and I think it's, it's kind of something that a lot of people just expect, the best athletes to be super motivated. And it's not most of them aren't super motivated. They're dedicated.

Phil Wharton:

That's right. chop wood, carry water and do it again. That's amazing. I love it. I love it. Well, please, I'm very excited. I'm a reader. And I when I saw that you were doing this with Molly, I was so excited for you guys. And excited for all of us in taking these messages. And I know that the book comes out I believe it's a Random House. It's a Penguin Random House book, right? And March 8 Is the pub date of how it okay? March 8, perfect. And we can get it on all platforms. You can get the ebook, you can get it on on an audio book as well. Correct?

Sara Slattery:

So I get to, we are excited. We actually get to read our voices in the book as well. Like we would have been awesome if we could have had each girl do their own voice, but it was going to be very difficult to do that. So I have some we have some they hired some voices for the women. But yeah, it'll be out March 8, so you can get an audiobook and Barnes and Noble. Amazon. Target.

Phil Wharton:

Great. Well, it's How She Did It-- stories, advice and secrets to success from 50 legendary distance runners and it's co authored with Molly Huddel, another one of the greats in distance running for US women, pub date is March 8. I'm going to preorder mine so we're going to have in the liner notes here the show, we're going to have the best place that Sara is going to direct us to where to get it is an essential guide for female athletes navigating the world of competitive running, featuring 50 candid interviews, and these interviews also are woven with your own stories right and, there's some liner notes of you all interweaving and sort of making sense of your own stories.

Sara Slattery:

The first half of the book is on, it's kind of like the recipe book of like the things that women based in distance running that have, like, hold them back. Or they, they deal with, so we have a nutrition expert, bone health, a sports psychology, sports physiology, sports physiologist, we have a sociologist that's talking about, the societal pressures. Yeah. So they're kind of the beginning. And we weave their advice in with the stories as well, and then our own personal stories. So

Phil Wharton:

Wow, that's a great fusion. It's gonna be really like a how to in a memoir, nice fusion, there feels like it's, you know, sort of like, what you're calling it, is an Olympic caliber support team at your fingertips. I like that. I think that's what this is a real needed, going to be a seminal work. So we're going to really promote that and get that out there to more people.

Sara Slattery:

Thanks Phil. Yeah, we're really excited about that.

Phil Wharton:

You should be that's a great work. And, Sara, I just want to thank you, you and your family. I know it's over the holiday, and you get rare time alone. So I'll let you go. And I just want to thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for spending time and being with us here on intrinsic drive. You've been a real pleasure to be with

Sara Slattery:

No thank you. It was such an honor to be asked to be on the show. And yeah. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And thank you again for the invitation.

Phil Wharton:

Thanks for being with us. We appreciate you opting in subscribing, and reviewing us for thumbing us up and following us on socials. liking us. We like you. Drop us a note. Tell us what stories move you. For books, videos, resources and more information. Visit us at whartonhealth.com forward slash shop wharton health. And be sure to join us for the next episode of intrinsic drive.