Wellness Inspired Podcast

Empowering Women Through Endurance Sports | Istra Bauza

• Sheri Davidson • Episode 10

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Endurance sports can make a positive powerful impact on physical and mental health. They push our boundaries and show us what is possible. They build resilience, confidence, competence and self-esteem. Join me in a stimulating conversation with Istra Bauza. She is an IRONMAN Certified Coach, USMS Swimming Instructor, Lifestyle Coach, and a soon to be graduate - Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She is on a mission to empower women and show them how setting goals in endurance sports can build resilience, increase self-esteem and competence.

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Sheri Davidson:

Hello friends welcome to the wellness inspired podcast. I'm your host, Sheri Davidson. And as always, I am here with my co host Ben Finn is my terrier mix rescue dog and a very, very loyal sidekick. And guess what? It is time to celebrate because we are in the double digits. This is episode 10 empowering women through endurance sports, and I can't wait for this conversation. I can't wait to share it with you. Because it is so good. But first, here's a teaser for the next Episode Episode 11. We'll have another great conversation about biophilic design with Kimberly Phipps Nicole. This is going to be an ongoing topic because our environment can have a huge impact on our health and wellness. Kimberly is a commercial interior designer and owns Houston Emporium, a boutique specializing in everything hemp, clothing, textiles, and high quality CBD goods. It will be a great conversation. So I hope you join us. All right, let's jump into our topic of the day, empowering women through endurance sports. And before we start, I would like to say that I am trying to stay consistent with posting an episode by monthly but Spring is here and things are ramping up and I got a little behind this month and about a week behind. So my apologies, but I have a very good reason. And I'm going to use that reason to introduce the topic of endurance sports. And I want to give a shout out to my friend Jeff taifun. I am so proud of him and his accomplishment. Last week I was recovering from supporting him and a huge race. He was the first athlete with disabilities to complete the Texas independence relay on a hand cycle. That is huge. And for those that don't know the Texas independence relay race starts in Gonzales, Texas, and ends in downtown Houston. It used to end at the San Jacinto Monument. But now it ends downtown at the Sabine bridge. It's right on the edge of downtown Houston. Usually there are teams of 12 runners that handoff a baton across 188 miles. Jeff decided to set a goal to handcycle the route solo. It was something he had never done before. endurance races are tough. You have to dig deep over and over again and keep going if you want to accomplish your goal. For him. This race was 28 hours. There was a lot of pain, physical exhaustion, tiredness, and an ever changing mindset. And of course, the unexpected. These races test you they push your limits and show you what you're capable of accomplishing. Jeff pushed through like a champ in the pain, exhaustion, tiredness ever changing mindset and the unexpected. He never lost the spirit of what he wanted to accomplish the first aw D athlete to complete the Texas independence relay on a handcycle solo. And I felt so honored to be a part of the crew that supported him along the way. huge accomplishment and very transformative. You are never the same after accomplishment like that. And I wanted to share the story one because I'm super proud of him, too. I think it's a great lead in to our conversation with Easter. Easter. Bauza is a triathlon and lifestyle coach aspiring to help individuals and the community form healthy habits and become the best version of themselves through multi sport, triathlon, integrative lifestyle changes and fitness programs. After doing triathlons for many years in 2015, Easter became an Ironman triathlon and swim coach specializing in female triathletes. Her mission is to empower other women and show them how setting goals and endurance sports can build resilience, increased self esteem and competence. She also co founded a running club at the local elementary school and works part time with middle and high school girls and community outreach as a way to plant a seed for an active lifestyle in the younger population. Her interest and prevention of chronic disease inspired her to become a lifestyle coach, and now works with individuals using multi sport and behavioral approaches to help individuals remove barriers to adopting a healthy lifestyle, establish goals to improve physical and mental health. She aims to combine multi sport and lifestyle Coaching and counseling as she finishes her graduate degree in clinical mental health counseling, and 2023. And without further ado, I would like to introduce you to Easter and I hope you enjoy our conversation Hi, in Australia, how are you? Hi. Hi,

Istra Bauza:

Terry. How are you?

Sheri Davidson:

I'm doing well. Thank you so much for coming on to the podcast. It's a Tuesday morning, Tuesday, humid morning and in Houston. I invite you on the podcast because when I think you're super cool, and you have a great story, which I didn't know until I read your your blog post. So super excited for you to share that here. And you're doing great things in the health and wellness space. You're into multi sports, your coach and for people who don't know that's triathlons. So it is swimming, biking and running. And you also encourage healthy lifestyle changes and you use this as a tool for developing not only physical health, but also mental health. And you are an Ironman certified coach. You are a US m s swimming ACLs instructor you can expect with the ALS it's

Istra Bauza:

an adult learn to swim. Oh, okay with adults that I've never done swimming before. Okay,

Sheri Davidson:

well, that's really cool. I need to do whenever okay, my first triathlon. That was my most they've been I was most scared of swimming. And you're currently getting your master's and clinical mental health counseling. And you you're expected to graduate next year, correct? Yeah. So I think you're a perfect fit for this podcast. The Wellness inspired podcast and what I would like the listeners to walk away with is the positive impact that sports can have on our health and well being. So let's just tell everybody how we met because I've known you for a couple years. I think I've probably met you. God 2000 maybe 15 or 16?

Istra Bauza:

Yes. So we were both doing triathlon at that time. Yes.

Sheri Davidson:

And I think it was through Dave Lee Daly. Yeah, because I started pup sport and you were a well, I guess you're still a graphic designer, but you're not. Yeah, you're not I guess is that are you still doing it professionally?

Istra Bauza:

It's a former is I call it my former career but I actually still do it part time for like, returning clients. So to help IQ

Sheri Davidson:

Yeah, me out recently. But that's how daily introduced us and and so that's how we met and you were a perfect fit for pup sport because pups were it was all about living a healthy active lifestyle with your dog. And you had done some, I guess branding for a couple of triathlon teams. I think you did a jersey? Yeah. Dave just said great things about you. So yeah, I agree with him now that I've known you for several years. So welcome, and tell people who you are a little bit about yourself. And yeah, we'll just jump into the conversation.

Istra Bauza:

Okay. Thank you. First of all, thank you for having me. It's, it's a pleasure to be here. I jumped immediately when you told me, you want it to have me on your podcast. It's really exciting. I so I'm a triathlon coach. I also focus on lifestyle changes with my clients, I, I want to use multi sport to help people develop, you know, not only physical health, but mental health. I myself suffer from anxiety. And I've always use sport as a way of managing anxiety and stress and things like that. But also, so people learn the value of what multi sport brings, like community, you build communities through this fourth. You can learn resilience, life skills, in a new, you can build up self esteem and develop competence and something rather difficult at the beginning. And it just makes huge it has made huge impact on most of the athletes that I train.

Sheri Davidson:

Yeah. And so So how did you get into triathlons because it's not a sport that most people fall into. Right? There's always a story behind getting into I have my own story within how I got into triathlons. So how did you get into it?

Istra Bauza:

Okay, so I was just after my second child. In my late 30s I was just you know, living my good old sedentary lives live. I had, you know, I was tired. I was, you know, battling with having to raise two kids, one of them a toddler and my husband worked full time I was I had just left my full time job to take care of my two children after my second child and something happened. I this is part of my stories that I think one of the main events that had that were that moment where I kind of like switch on mindset was that I had a loss, my, my love, my adored, dog passed away. And I started feeling really, really low and depressed. And I needed an outlet and basically started walking. I basically waited a year, but then went and adopted a dog and started walking that dog and that became a process of the dog walking me. And then then me walking the dog. And then, you know, fast forward, my husband started doing cycling, and then somebody invited him to do a triathlon. And I said, You know what, I'm just going to start like, you know, running a little bit here and a little bit there. And then he insisted that I try a try try triathlon and like, Oh, why don't you give it a try? It'll be fun. And I was like, No, I'm not gonna do that. It's too scary. I was scared of swim, scared of like, being in group of groups of people to ride riding bikes. So long story short, I did my first try. And it was it basically changed everything.

Sheri Davidson:

Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing how sports can do that. You know, and just going back a little bit off the subject. And when I read your blog post about your dog and how you got into triathlons, I thought she was even more of a perfect fit for doing pup sport.

Istra Bauza:

Yeah, I felt really, I gravitated to a bump sport. You know, the whole theme of it was just like, oh, this is perfect.

Sheri Davidson:

Yeah, I didn't. I didn't know that. And it's those little things that that get us moving. Right? Yeah. So I love your story and how you got into triathlon. So but how did you get into obviously you love them so much, you've benefited from them so much that you decided to become a Ironman coach?

Istra Bauza:

Yes. So this is the part where triathlon and multisport played a role after doing, you know, triathlon for six years, I started seeing how the sport was transformative for a lot of people. Not not, I mean, not only me, so I had a friend at that point at that point that has had just finished a certification and Ironman certified triathlon coach certification. And she said, let's just do it together. And it's like I say, Yeah, I'll do it. And then I realized that when I did that certification, I knew more than I thought I I knew. So that Wow. So this is really not only inspiring has been always inspiring me now like I have the tools and basically, it just somewhat created, doing triathlon and multisport created ignited some sort of purpose where I decided to, you know, I want it to get that good feel that I get from Thailand, and I want to be able to inspire others to do the same and see, basically see the same benefits that I saw. Because triathlon has made me a stronger individual. And as a woman, you know, hasn't given me empowerment and, and I'm just a more vibrant woman because of it. Yeah. Yeah.

Sheri Davidson:

So and I know because I'm, I've done I've done one I've done I did Ironman, Texas. Yeah, but I've always done. It's not a small task. I've only done one full Ironman. I've done several halfs. But it was kind of the the catalyst for me was that I was dating somebody. And then it ended and I said, That's it, because I knew it was a huge commitment. Right? Yeah. It's a huge time commitment. I was like, that's it. I am going to train for an Ironman. Yeah, that was my motivator. Right? Like, I don't want to date. I'm just going, Yes, full force. Absolutely. But the thing that that was the thing that motivated me. And I want to ask you this, but the thing that kept me going through it all was the community in my team. Yeah, of the people that I met.

Istra Bauza:

Yes. Yeah. So there's, there's a, there's something about the community in triathlon and anyone interact on in clubs or in, you know, cities that, you know, have a well developed triathlon scene, you know, all the they all know that. There's a collective aspect of support. It's like, it becomes some somewhat of a protective factor. For a lot of people Yeah, you know, huge Yeah, it's huge. You know, I mean, there's been people that have issues mental sorry, health issues and they immediately the entire community comes in and okay, how can we help somebody is by God, you know, whatever. They got into an accident, everybody just pitched in, you know, it's a very close knit community and everybody's happy someone nobody's talking about out, I realized after being in these groups that we have not asked what we do, like, I don't even know what my colleagues here do in triathlon. And it's because we're so into the sport that it's almost becomes like a family.

Sheri Davidson:

Yeah. Yeah, you know, I haven't done a triathlon in a while I'm, I'm running now. But people ask me all the time, like, they all say they hate running, right? And I'm like, Well, I found a community. Right. And the community is what keeps me running. Right? Yep. And I think that there is a lot to be said for that when people are trying to change their behaviors to true, right, and how important if you want to make sustainable change? community can be a big part of that. Yes, yes. It's it is big. And that is what kept me going and doing Iron Man's. And I will say that the other thing that kept me going doing an Ironman was the thought that, that accomplishment and how I was going to feel after that accomplishment and where it was going to put me right. It's like you, you enter into another space in your life. Yeah, that I don't know. I can't articulate it. So maybe you can, but I can't, but maybe it is like a resilience you become more resilient, or you become more confident. And maybe that's what it is.

Istra Bauza:

Yeah, it's like there's all these factors. And I've been personally discovering them through through my own training, but also through my athletes, everybody lives a different experience when they train for something like a triathlon. But there's so many so many hidden variables, such as, you know, for example, solving problems, like when you train for something like an hour Ironman, or a half Ironman, there's so many different things that can go wrong. At one point. Typically, they don't, but if they do, you learn to solve, you know, you'll learn life skills, you'll learn how to change your tire. And as a woman, these things might seem, you know, insignificant, but they are huge, huge, competent competence builders. Yeah. So it's really building you're really building a lot of life skills and resilience through through the process. Yes, yeah. And weather and weather in Texas. Yeah.

Sheri Davidson:

It could be windy, it could be raining or all of it or all of it. Today's very humid. I ran this morning, and I wore pants and I was like, Oh, my gosh, the humidities? Yeah. What was I thinking? So yeah, you you definitely learn those those things. So tell me some other lessons that you've learned from from doing triathlons, the life lessons, because I think there are a lot of life lessons and sports and triathlons. So

Istra Bauza:

Oh, wow. Okay, so I have a few that I can that are my really main ones. One of them is for me, personally. So as a, as a child, as a middle child of six children, always being around people that were very adventurous and pretty much risk takers, I was the one that was always scared. The one afraid of trying new things for me specifically, and for some of the athletes that I train, it's about, you know, pushing comfort zones. And mastering a skill. And basically, problem solving. So through, you know, for a woman, for example, like most of my clients are female. And these things we don't talk about these in this in this language with the client with our clients are, I don't really think about this in this term in terms in terms of just language, but once you complete once you go through a training and complete a race afterwards, you feel like lighter and you feel like you can accomplish more and your even your problem solving becomes more efficient. Let me just give you an example. Something that happens happened recently. I was at I'm doing a more into doing biking races now like I do gravel riding which is basically Yeah, it's like road cycling website, road bike with like mountain bike tires, basically. And you go out, it's on gravel, it's on gravel, and it's old country roads. And it's pretty amazing because there's no cars, you're already major.

Sheri Davidson:

I would love to come I'd have to get a bike but I can

Istra Bauza:

get your bike. Your your your a and I was at a race recently where I was muddy, it was like 30 degrees, it was freezing cold. And I started gradually losing breaks. Normally, my old me before, you know years and years of you know, working with triathlon, I mean and solving problems in racing and training. When I'm just basically Okay, I have no brakes. I'm just going to try to find a way where I'm gonna spot a place where I can crash lands because it's not working out. I'm going, you know, 30 Miles was an hour going downhill? No brakes. It was very scary. And what happened was that I immediately had a thoughts like, Okay, calm yourself. Nothing's happening just going fast going going downhill. No brakes. There's nothing wrong right now. At this very moment, you're fine. Yeah. So keep calm until you reach a plateau and just slowly decrease speed and then pull your feet out and then just like scratch your shoes, my shoes got trashed, but who cares? They were your brakes. They were my brakes. Yeah. So as in that moment of crisis, I was able to make a decision that I will normally not ever have done it. And if I had not gone through something like that. So it's just little things that happen. I've crashed a couple of times to and from that in your blog. Yes. And of course, I

Sheri Davidson:

have a question. So that was an Ironman that you crashed and you had you had like nine? Was it nine miles left? Yes. That's my first Ironman first Ironman. Yeah. And you crashed, like, in that sense, but you still had to do the run,

Istra Bauza:

I got to do the run. I had 99 miles left, and my front tire was wobbly. And my, my front brake was broken. I mean, it was damaged. So I had to, I looked at all the possibilities in my head. So you learn to find all these, you know, finally scenarios like okay, I could do this. I could do that. I could. It's like you don't if there's something about the sport that doesn't let you quit? Yeah. It's I don't, it's hard to put into specific. Explain it perfectly. But it's just something you learn by doing.

Sheri Davidson:

Yeah. Yeah. No, I really liked that. Like,

Istra Bauza:

I'm not saying that we all have to crash.

Sheri Davidson:

But but the likelihood of being on a bike and training for X amount of years.

Istra Bauza:

Yeah. You know, you know, when I had a bad accident,

Sheri Davidson:

you know, friend of mine was I don't remember we were downtown Houston. And a friend of mine, there was four of us. My friend was in front of me and he came up to the tracks. Metro metro rail. Yes. Thank you. And I saw it, I saw it happening. Everything just slowed down. And I was right behind him. His wilcott, one of the lovely, yes. And I did not have time to stop. And so I hit him, I got thrown off my bike, luckily, to the right and not to the left, because there was a car coming. Oh, my goodness, yes. And so it happened. I was fine. You know, I, you know, recovered. And I had no, I had some bruising. But thankfully, but it you know, you can't get out of life without, you know, getting beat up a little bit.

Istra Bauza:

Exactly. Exactly. It's, it's, it is that it is basically it teaches you about life.

Sheri Davidson:

It really does. Yeah, no, absolutely agree with that. And people will, I guess people will learn different things, right? Through sport. So to have you and you might do this ever thought about because you're a lifestyle coach. You are getting your master's in mental health. Have you ever? And maybe you do this unconsciously, but with your clients? Is there any kind of integration, like session like after someone has a huge accomplishment? And how they integrate that into their life?

Istra Bauza:

So yes, so that's a great a great point to that we can probably I will try to explain it. It's something is not something that I plan for every athlete, because what I'm realizing is some athletes are have more insight into these things than others. But generally speaking, we do go into there's something that I always ask in a lot of coaches do this, it's like we write or the athlete writes a post race, review, race review, but like, lessons they write, what did you do? What what worked? What did not work? Have everything I told you and everything you did? Yeah, decisions you made plus, like review the race and things. Look, a lot of the athletes go into reviewing their own performance. And when we review that, together, we go into the conversations as see, you know, for example, a lot of what happens is that some of the athletes underestimate a lot of the athletes that I work with, underestimate their, their abilities. For example, someone who a recent athlete that just did you know, 70.3, half Ironman thought like the swim was going to be very scary. And then once he went out there, he realized in he basically swam way better than he thought he would. So like things like that. We just basically look at how all these things play in and then they will write their stories at the end. And it's important because I really enjoy the the mental health aspect of being a net doing a narrative as to what happened at this race and what how can we better ourselves, either for right next race or for a future event or things like that. So through those conversations we have after they write their reviews and their, their, you know, do's and don'ts, and things like that we discover we see some some things.

Sheri Davidson:

Well, that's interesting. I didn't know that. That was something that coaches did,

Istra Bauza:

like, try like I do, because I do enjoy. I mainly do it because I love hearing about their experiences. It's just what they learned. Yeah,

Sheri Davidson:

yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I really, I really liked that a lot. Because I feel like there is just so much and everybody's experience is so different. And I do. I underestimated myself before, you know, and you really can see your potential and what you're capable of doing. And so I think that's, that's really, really, really great for people to see. But I have a question, and I'm a tryout Well, I, like I said, I'm not doing triathlons anymore, I'm running more. But when I was doing triathlons and being in the running space, sometimes triathlons, get triathletes get a bad rap.

Istra Bauza:

Oh, yeah. I know what those.

Sheri Davidson:

So from a mental health perspective and a coach a lifestyle coach, what, what do you think about that? Like, how do you? What would be your response to somebody that had something negative to say about overgeneralizing a triathlete? And their attitudes?

Istra Bauza:

Okay, so first of all, I know I know why. I know why the main you know, just the general population will say, with fingers for athletes are like full and full of themselves. Or they're like, you know, overconfident or act overconfident. Or there may be

Sheri Davidson:

me, I'm gonna stop you for one minute, because a lot of listeners might not know what triathlons when we're talking about Iron Man's and half Iron Man's Yes, a full Iron Man is a 2.4 mile swim. It's a It's 112 mile bike ride, and then a marathon. And then a half Ironman is half that distance. So I just wanted to let people know that don't know what they are. Yeah,

Istra Bauza:

yes, that's a good, definitely a good thing. So I believe there's been a few instances. And I always say a few because I have been in a big share and a big amount of events. And I've been around throughout this for a long time. And I know, there's always just one or two, maybe throughout the history of my history with triathlon, where there's been a one or one of a few individuals that are just really, you know, either like, they're too proud of their what they're doing, or they're too they're beyond everyone else, or they feel like they're, they're more important than anyone else. And I've seen it in races, you know, but I feel that the person who they the general idea triathletes are, you know, like some other breed or they're like, they feel they're superior, is not not really, for me, it's not really true, because I am in the community, and you just have to be in that community for a little bit to understand that. People all they're all about helping each other. Yeah. And they're all very, not only they're welcoming, they're welcoming crew. They are really into, you know, you are new, we're going to help you, you know, we're going to help you through the process. If you've ever been in an event, you know, when you're struggling with something, oh, I then bring goggles, or I forgot the cap or I'm afraid there's always like not only one, there's several people cycle, it'll be fine. And they're all like, there's so much rapport in triathlon. It's, it's something you have to experience. Yeah,

Sheri Davidson:

I agree. Because that's been my experience. But I you know, on the outside, I get these questions or comments, and I feel like I'm defending, right, like, no defending all right. You just you don't know because I that was my experience. When I first entered the triathlon world. Everybody was so welcoming. Yeah. And yeah, didn't have my goggles, one race or they snapped at the last one. Yeah. And somebody said, I have an extra pair, you know, and don't worry about it. So I've had the same experience too. So. So my next question I want to ask you is the distances because I'm an ultra runner, and I always get the question also being in health. Is that healthy for you?

Istra Bauza:

Right? Yep. Yeah, oh my gosh. So I come across. I'm in I'm not only in Tarragona environments, I mean other environments in mental health, in school at work. Sometimes Sometimes I talk about what I do in the I work part time as a community outreach for Girl Scouts and scientists, you know, when we go to middle schools all over Houston to talk about health, you know, healthy habits and, you know, relationships and self esteem and all these really awesome things for girls. In every now and then people ask you, sometimes the coaches or sometimes the, you know, the regular individual will ask you, well, that can be healthy. So my answer is always, you know, we do this, you know, we do this in a, we don't go just out and run an Ironman we do. You know, we do progressive overload, we, we follow a plan, we go little by little we increase very slow volume, we don't go out and try to like, run, you know, six miles today, and then 12 miles and next week. So we do something very, it's a method, it's a method we follow is not like careless, or it's not like, just adding volume like that. It's just that a lot of people cannot wrap their heads around the distance. Yeah. Because you think you know, 112 miles, that's a long way in a car. And then once you've done it, and on a bike, that seems like a short distance,

Sheri Davidson:

yeah. So yeah, yeah. You're not just getting off the couch and going and doing progression. And, and what I always tell people, there's, you have to recover. You have to that's the healthy part, right, is that you recover? Well. Now, there are some unhealthy athletes that don't do that. But the majority, exactly are recovering and following that program and easing into that distance. And yeah, I

Istra Bauza:

and that's part of the coaching recovery, the recovery aspect of is part of like after the race, we always have like sessions that we do just for recovery. Yeah. So yeah, recovery. Very, very,

Sheri Davidson:

super important. So do you. Yes, Finn is he's a rolling around on the ground over there with you.

Istra Bauza:

There's something really interesting that I was thinking lately, because I'm doing you know, I'm a blog. But I also do a lot of journaling as part of a class that I'm taking. And recently, I was starting to think about in you can probably you could probably understand what I'm saying because you also do fun stuff like that. But the fact that we have all, you know, the adventure side of multi sport, ultra running and cycling, that there's that basic human need for adventure. Yeah. A lot of people are missing. Yes.

Sheri Davidson:

I love adventure. Yeah. And you know, in my the podcast, I talk a lot about I do race recap, recap. Yeah. So you were talking about that, like what I've learned and the, you know, how the race went. And then I love architecture and design. And so I especially in my race, and Catalina, I talked about the architecture and the design of the place and a little bit of the history of the place. But when I am planning out my race schedule, I think, Where do I want to go? Right, what kind of adventure do I want to have? And that's it gives back to me in that way. So I have my big adventure this year is the Faroe Islands. So I'm going running, there's a troll festival in the Faroe Islands. Wow. And so I leave, I'll be gone two weeks. And so for the first four days, we run around and explore the Faroe Islands. And then the last day is the race. They have an ultra, which is about I think they're Ultra comes out to be almost 50 miles. I'm kind of I didn't sign up for that one. I signed up for their most popular which was the half marathon. Okay, and they said I could go up if I wanted to. But the problem is they don't have any routes. They don't have any elevation charts. They don't have you know, it's like a surprise. It's an adventure. Seeking Exactly. But I have 2018 I went on a running adventure in Iceland. So I've run a little bit of that terrain. And I know how difficult it can be a little.

Istra Bauza:

You're skeptical about choosing longer distance,

Sheri Davidson:

which I want to but yeah, I think I'll be running for five days there. So maybe that's enough. Yeah, I think adventure is it keeps life exciting. And it is a basic human need for sure. Yeah. And you all do you know Maribel she travels and does have Iris Yes, I have I have her like definitely follow her pretty adventurous, very adventurous and love seeing all her photos and where she's going. And maybe she's been I think she goes on about three or four trips a year and does Ironman. Yeah.

Unknown:

I mean, it's these events. People say oh, why don't you allow people Want to come to me? Like why would you? Why would you do an event like that? And just do why don't you just go to the place like, you don't understand. I go I always say that you get to see the land. You get to see the towns firsthand. You get to see if you like outdoors and being in nature is the best way. Yeah. So for me it's just as long as here I'm outdoors watching the beautiful you know, the the, the beautiful the scenery in town or the city that I go, I think that's, that's worth it.

Sheri Davidson:

Yeah. Yeah. And doing triathlons and I love open water swims. Yeah, I they still make me nervous.

Istra Bauza:

But there's, there's something in there. It's scary. Yeah, but it's good scare. It's like the anxiety the deep type of stress that it's good for you. Yes. Which is scary. But

Sheri Davidson:

what a great way to to explore a place right than to swim bike and run. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Run through because do you DID YOU DO YOU DID Porter, your front port port. Yeah,

Istra Bauza:

I grew up there. And I also enjoy like open water there. Because it's like the swim. You know, the water is blue. You might see dolphins. Now some people were saying now there. There's migration of whales going in there. So it's you know, it's not that I like SCI live. I don't want to come across a lot of sci fi. But basically, it is so beautiful. That now we every time we go we kind of pick up an event like either crossing the bay or something. We're like we get across on the swimming, swimming. Yeah, so we've done stuff like that. And it's it there's that element of adventure and a little intimidating, but still also. It's so pleasant to be in the ocean.

Sheri Davidson:

To have you I'm gonna say it wrong. But have you heard of tillow? Otello? Sounds familiar. It started in Europe. And they are swim runs. Yes. Okay. swimmer. And I've been I've been following them for a really long time. And it's like maybe I should go to Europe and try one of these. And yeah, it looks super fun. Because you swim. You run. You swim. You run you swim. You run. And they have different distances. I think the longest one, I think their longest is 2424 miles. Yeah. But they opened one up in the States. Okay. And it's in cattle. It's on Catalina Island. Oh, wow. Two Harbors? Amazing. Yeah. And so they've had to so far. Okay. And I've looked at it, and I was going to do it this year. And then I looked at the swim. And I think the last leg of the swim was almost a mile, which is fine. It's fine. Yeah. But they had a shark attack. And I was like, hmm, maybe?

Istra Bauza:

Yeah, well, you can have adventure, but also be cautious about things like in, for example, like the West Coast, like in the West Coast. Yeah. You know, you're always, you know, you have to look at what you're willing to, you know, a cost benefit analysis, benefit analysis. So, like, the water is always gonna be cold in the West Coast. You're always going to be cold there. So you want to always swim in cold water, or do you want to swim in the Caribbean? Or like Texas? Yes. So and then also, you know, sharks and things. Like with the San Francisco one Alcatra. Alcatraz, Alcatraz is a race that it's swimming right there and 58 degree water and which is cold for water. Very cold. Yeah. And there's, you know, they know is known for white white grape. Whites. Yes. So,

Sheri Davidson:

well, this, this, this happened. And I was like, Maybe I won't do that. But it was they haven't had a shark attack in like, 90 years or something. Yeah, still. Yeah. It was a Boy Scout. And he was kayaking. Okay, and he went off Route and gotten to the seaweed or the kelp. Yeah. And it came up because he I guess he had his hand I guess the shark was feeding. Oh, my goodness. He was fine. Yeah. But

Unknown:

they're very isolated. You know, people say with sharks. It's always very isolated events. It's just we give it more airtime than it because a shark week because it's your week because of that because of the media.

Sheri Davidson:

That's what did it for me or maybe jaws. Jaws? Yeah. So, so your focus is more on women. And I was looking through your I don't know where I got this from, but it said do you want to empower other women and show them how to set goals and endurance sports, so they can build resilience and increase self esteem and competence. So that's your focus and coaching.

Istra Bauza:

Correct. So So basically, what I do enjoy and what some of them I, at least half of the athletes that I work with, come to me for it's they're trying to you know, like they're trying to get active and they've sometimes have done one sprint triathlon or they have raced before. Sometimes they haven't. Sometimes it's you Basically, they want to lose weight. Yeah. So I, you know, some of the athletes come with all sorts of, you know, reasons or they have like a preset goal in their mind. Sometimes we work with those goals, sometimes we modify them a little bit depending on because they get I, I love, you know, basically mentoring my athletes as to you know, these are the things that you could be doing. Because sometimes they tend to, a lot of the women that I work with, tend to go like, Oh, maybe I can do a five caterwaul. Maybe you can do swim bike run, maybe you can learn to ride the bike confidently, maybe you can. So I just want to open their horizons and say, you know, you could do more than you think you can. And I say, not just because I'm a coach, just because I've lived this through my own training. I surprised myself, every, every every race, and I want them to understand and learn that be it, you know, signing up for a 5k, for example. Some people find that intimidating. And I think that setting goals like that, like I'll help you figure out what goals you should do and do them in in a in a way that is not intimidating or that intimidating for you. But yeah, it could be a 5k could be spring try. I've had people that want to go straight into I want to do a half Ironman. Yeah, it's the first race and they want to go half Ironman. I gotta say, yeah. How much time do you have to train? And I always I always go back to. I mean, I don't want to, you know, take anyone's dreams from their pipeline. But I want to say that I want to be realistic, too. And I that's I'm also the voice of reason to some of the people that want to do half Ironman in four weeks, or in two weeks, from ever done couch couch to 70.34 weeks. Um, yeah. Well,

Sheri Davidson:

realistic goal realistic goals. It's about smart, smart goals, right? I mean, you could you couldn't do it, but you might hurt yourself.

Istra Bauza:

Exactly. And I'm not gonna be there. I'm not a coach that will like promote something that will get you injured long term. Yeah. Because then you're out? Yes. And then they need to be sustainable. Yeah, these goals are as much as to complete a race as to sustain these habits of like staying active. So

Sheri Davidson:

yeah, yeah, cuz that's the ultimate goal. I know. And when I talk about wellness, exercise, and movement is a pillar of health and wellness, right? It's probably the number one, maybe sleep and recovery. But but it's been proven over and over again, the importance of physical movement, right, we've got to move your body, right. And so I talk a lot about that on the podcast, I talk a lot about my running again. But I always stress that I talk about running because that's what gives back to me, the important thing is, is that you find something that is going to give back to you that you can sustain, right, because I can tell everyone to go out and run run because that's what I do. Right? Right. But that's not for everyone. Right? And so what do you what can you do to have sustainability in that choice? Right? And Exactly, yeah. And then not to injure yourself and not to burn out.

Istra Bauza:

Right? So this is definitely a good point. A lot of the clients that and in my own case, I've have now a preference for biking, and I end up I see myself biking more than I do the other two disciplines, because within that's why I like to call it multi sport. Because if I say triathlon people said their minds in like the sport of triathlon, I want to say multi sport, even though it's triathlon, it still talks about the variety in sports, it could be yoga, yoga, it could be you just do five K's it could be. You want to just dance Zumba, like Zumba? Some Baton Rouge, do a marathon Zumba? Yeah. So it's about incorporating exercise in an active life lifestyle through multi sport. Yeah, in a lot of the athletes that I work with, end up saying, You know what, I don't like running. And I totally understand that. And they'll stick to swim and bike. And then you know, you want to continue you know, you want to keep working with them. Yeah, so you know, there's swim and bike. Yeah, there's there's Aqua bikes. There's Aqua bikes in some events. Yes. And there's also relays which he which is really I love fun. And I've gotten some athletes into triathlon by doing relays with them, have you really intimidated I will be willing, if it's something that I can get to, I'd be willing to swim bike or run for you if you want to join me in every light. So if I love doing that with that with my athletes, it's like such a great feeling.

Sheri Davidson:

Well, and I think it's more of a team sport at that point. Because it's such a I mean, there is a community a strong community but just like running your it's it's a so Little sport. Exactly. Yeah, if you can create that, that team, which really does, it's so much it can be so much more fun.

Istra Bauza:

Yeah, I the relays are a great way to get anyone that is slightly intimidated by the racing Yeah. To experience the event.

Sheri Davidson:

Or if they're scared of swimming, then they can win.

Istra Bauza:

And I have I've haven't had anyone say, I don't like this. I'm never coming back. Everybody's just like, Can I do a sprint? Can I do this? Can I do that? So?

Sheri Davidson:

Yeah, well, and crossing that finish line. Oh, yeah, there's, that is I don't even know how to articulate that.

Istra Bauza:

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Oh, my goodness. Yes. You see it in, in like, it's something that transcends culture, socioeconomic background, everything because I've, we train. I'm also part of this nonprofit that we train women to complete a 5k This is a volunteering that I've always done. And one of the reasons why I also wanted to work in you know, become a mental health, individual and, you know, possibly an LPC was, is Melanesia, which is, you know, willing easier, right. delaneys is one of my favorite nonprofits. And they basically, were working with disadvantaged women, you know, formerly incarcerated and sometimes formerly homeless, they train with them for several weeks, and then they complete a 5k. In doing the race with those women, it's one of the most rewarding things that I've ever done. Yeah, crossing that finish line for those women

Sheri Davidson:

is huge, because it's much bigger. It's much bigger than that finish line. Yeah, it's transformative. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do you know Girls on the Run, right? Yeah. Yeah, it's a but it's a it's a nonprofit, for I don't remember the age group. But it's young. It's

Istra Bauza:

like, it's like 11. It's like, elementary and middle school of two middle school, I think.

Sheri Davidson:

Yeah. And so they have a big 5k race. And I've, I've, I've been and it's so fun to see these girls out there. Running and crossing that finish line. Yeah. Like it is huge. And to be that young, and have that experience.

Istra Bauza:

Yes. I doubt that goes on the run is one of also one of my favorite nonprofits. It's yeah, it's huge for girls at those ages. That's the age group where girls get those first glimpses of competence in what they're able to achieve and in their program is amazing.

Sheri Davidson:

Yeah, no, I agree. It'd be fun to have. Mary Mary T on Mary T. Oh, yeah. You have to I know.

Istra Bauza:

Bring her over.

Sheri Davidson:

Yep, she's fun. So so if somebody was interested in doing a triathlon or multi sport event, what would be some tips or some races that you would suggest people to good races to start out with?

Istra Bauza:

Okay, so I'm gonna I'm biased a little bit because this was the race the race that started at all for me and is the tri girl try. It's under the Bayou City triathlon organization. And it's try girl try, I think is the website. Try girl try.com. It's a non intimidated, intimidating, all female race. I've never seen so much support for women and camaraderie. And just the the swag, the swag meaning like, the giveaways are amazing. Everybody wants the swag. Everybody wants to swag. The Nemo says they have me Mosa. It's like it's such a non intimidating, amazing environment. And honestly, that race, I did it twice. And it's on Mother's Day, this year. May I think it's not Mother's Day, second Sunday in May. And it's a great first time first timers race. I'm also also typically have relay A relay with some people there too. So if you don't want to do the whole thing, you can also do a relay. But basically, yes, start by picking something. Just like throw yourself, you know, in this, you know, out there, pick a date, pick an event, and I can help anyone get through, you know, the program to get you there. It's just simply a matter of setting that goal. Yeah. And you'll go through the motions and you know, we you have ups and downs, but it's it ends up being the best decision you have that a lot of people make. Yeah,

Sheri Davidson:

yeah. Again, transformative decisions. It's like your life is never the same. Exactly. And I try and articulate that to people like why do you do what you do? And I'm like, well, it's just it's the accomplishment. It is and when you're done you're like wow, like you You did that or I did that right and and then when you reflect on it, you you do reflect on those His life lessons you do reflect on what you could do next. And it's like, it just keeps growing and growing. And it goes back to it's not like I just got off the sofa and decided to do an ultra or an Ironman Zach. It was it's a process over years that's built up. And this is where I'm at right now because I keep pushing myself.

Istra Bauza:

Exactly. And there will be a point in an athlete's life where you become less interested in racing. But that's where you reap the benefits. You have become an active individual, you have become an extremely engaged and active individual, living a healthy lifestyle because now I don't race as much but I do love to go to the salon go swimming. I love to go running. I love to go cycling with my friends. And it becomes part of you, you become the multistore lifestyle is here to stay.

Sheri Davidson:

Yeah, it's it's sustainable. He's sustainable. Yeah, because you've done it so much. I'm not into racing anymore. I just had that competitive

Istra Bauza:

edge, a competitive edge, kind of like soft softens it, for sure I

Sheri Davidson:

can, every once in a while. I can feel it kind of bubble up a little bit, but it's not strong enough. It's not strong enough. I just want to go out there and run and do my thing. As long as I'm finish. Exactly. I'm okay. Exactly. Yeah. So um, so yeah, that's fantastic. So how do people find you?

Istra Bauza:

Okay, so I have my I have a website. And I'm also also on Instagram and Facebook. Instagram is the most most active channel you can find me in it's the handle is soul and sun multisport. And then I'm on Facebook is the same name. And then the website is soul and Sundar calm. So that's s o UL, an de su n.com.

Sheri Davidson:

Yeah, and I am a member of the Facebook group, and you always post very inspiring stuff.

Istra Bauza:

Thank you. Thank you. I love posting Inspire. I want to inspire I mean, I get inspired, and I immediately want to share it with the world.

Sheri Davidson:

Yeah, well, I think that's great. And that was the reason why I started this podcast was to inspire people to live a more healthy,

Istra Bauza:

well, life. And I love what you do. I love it.

Sheri Davidson:

Thank you. Well, I love that you came and visited me and took the time out of your day to talk about sports and women and how it can change your life and it can change anyone's life, not just women. That's your focus. Yeah. So I appreciate you. Thank you very much. And I hope you come back because before the podcast, we were talking about some pretty fun topics.

Istra Bauza:

Absolutely. It's, it's been a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks. Bye.

Sheri Davidson:

Okay, what did you think? I love this conversation with Easter. It resonated with me because I have grown so much from endurance sports too. I would not be the person I am today without participating in them. I have definitely learned problem solving, resilience, confidence and competence from participating in endurance sports. But there's another thing that I have learned something that we didn't talk about. But Easter said everyone has their own takeaways. They have their own experiences. And the other thing that I have learned from endurance sports, is humility. Sometimes it's not your day or your race. And it forces you to face failure head on. There have been three races that I have, well, two races that I have not completed. And one race that I did complete, but not within the timeframe. I quit a half Ironman in New Orleans was not my day. I was not feeling it. And the swim was incredibly rough. And there was a lady panicking beside me. And I swam her to the side. And I quit to it when I just was not feeling it that day. And there's comrades ultramarathon and South Africa. It was a 56 mile race. And I had to stop at mile 45 due to being sick. And Bryce Canyon 50k I completed but did not complete it within the 11 hours. So those were the three races that got the best of me. And all three of those races. I had to wrestle with my ego. I couldn't believe I didn't finish. I couldn't believe this happened to me. I couldn't believe all of these things. And once the wrestling is over, it's humbling. And it's grounding. And it's good. That's how life is. We don't always reach our goals. Things don't always turn out the way we want them to. But it can still be transformative. You reflect, you learn, you pick yourself up, and you get back out there. There's so much more to be said about this. And we'll continue the conversation because I love this conversation. But for now, I'm going to call that a wrap. If you like what you hear, please subscribe to the podcast and share with your family and friends. You can also give me a rating and review wherever you listen to your podcast, it helps others find me as well. To get updates on new episodes and wellness inspiration in your inbox. Please join the wellness inspired community. Go to wellness inspired podcast.com to sign up, and I'll put the link in the show notes. Also, there is a Facebook community at the Wellness inspired and you can follow me on Instagram at wellness underscore inspired. If you're in the Houston area and visiting and interested in acupuncture, herbal medicine, cupping, or dry needling therapy, contact us you can find out more on our website at element five oh m.com. That's element, the number five oh m.com. And again, I'll put the link in the show notes. If you're interested in health and wellness coaching, we can connect in the clinic or on Zoom, reach out and we'll get you on the schedule. Well as always, I would love to hear your feedback. I'm dedicated to bringing you great content that is inspiring and informative with an artsy fun, edgy spin. Thank you so much for listening. We'll meet here again next time. And remember, never stop exploring, learning loving and being you bye