My Next Big Adventure - NZ Awaits

This week on the podcast I'm talking all about my next adventure - a long awaited trip to New Zealand. I share how the dream originated in 2019 and the many unexpected obstacles that arose over the past 5 years.

What dream do you have for yourself? Do you have someone in your corner who will believe in you while you develop your belief in yourself?

Nobody achieves big dreams alone. Tune in for inspiration and motivation for your own big dreams and adventures.

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Click here to see the photo I mentioned in the podcast for the moment right after we found out Todd also qualified for the race in New Zealand.

Click here to read more about the bike accident and to see before and after photos.

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Binge Breakthrough, a podcast designed to help you finally break through the barriers that keep you stuck, feeling out of control around food. I'm Master Certify coach James Hilker, and I want you to know that no matter how long you've been struggling or what you've tried, food freedom is possible. And I'm here to show you how. After years of therapy, eating disorder treatment, restrictive diet, and reading all the books, I was still stuck in the onigan-onic cycle of restricting binging until I was able to see it all from a new perspective that changed everything. Each week I will share the strategies, tools, and mindset that allowed me to overcome my decades-long battle with binge eating. Your journey to body trust starts now. Let's dive in. Hello, trusted listener. Welcome to Binge Breakthrough. I consider you a trusted listener because I trust that you are listening to this podcast for a reason. I trust that you are going to hear something today that is insightful and impactful on your own personal journey. So I'm here to talk this week and next week about my next big adventure. And I want to talk about this adventure for several reasons. I get a lot of really great feedback from people who tell me that they get a lot out of these podcasts where I talk about my adventures, where I talk about um how I prepare for things, how they came about. I get uh people really get ideas, they get inspiration. And so my goal in sharing about my next adventure with you is number one, to tell you about the adventure because it's kind of fun, but also so that you might be inspired, so that you might get something out of this for yourself, for your own journey and your own experiences. So I invite you to really open up with as you listen to this, ask yourself the question: how can I gain something for myself out of this? Whether it's inspiration, whether it's insight, whether it's ideas, motivation, whatever it is, how can I get something, gain something for myself through listening to this episode? So I have an example. Uh, inside my cultivate group coaching program, we actually have somebody who is preparing for a medical procedure. And she shared that she had listened to one of my more recent podcast episodes about uh a big trip uh and how I prepare for big trips, how I set intentions, how I make sure that I always take time afterwards at the end of a trip so that I have uh time to kind of recover and make sure that I can take care of myself before I kind of get back into life. And she was saying that she had listened to that episode. And what she decided to do was that she has this procedure. She decided to take the day off before her procedure so that she would have time to really take care of herself and be prepared for the procedure the next day. And she did this from inspiration of the podcast episode where I talked about taking a day off after a trip to rest and regroup. So I thought it was so brilliant to do it in advance of a medical procedure to make sure that she was emotionally and physically taken care of going into the appointment. So this is just an example of how she listened to a previous podcast episode of me talking about my adventures and how I prepare for travel and what I do. And she thought, oh, this is how I'm gonna put this into practice in my own life. So I encourage you to think about this for yourself as you listen for, as you listen to these next two episodes. So, what's my next adventure? We are going to New Zealand, and I am so excited. This is going to be a two-part episode. I'm gonna talk to you today about the background, why we're going to New Zealand, some of the challenges that um I've encountered from the time we decided we were gonna go, and how and where we are today, and really talking about how the road to where we want to go doesn't always look the way that we thought it would, and how that is not a problem. So that's what we're gonna talk about this week. And then in next week's episode, I'm going to continue to give you some really incredible stories of connection, stories that you literally couldn't even make up to create the results that that are coming together for this trip. So I'm gonna share some of those stories next week, and I'm also gonna tell you just some more details of the trip itself. All right, so let's dive in. Why New Zealand? So my husband and I, we always wanted to go to New Zealand. It was kind of one of those, we still have this big list of all these places we wanted to go. And New Zealand was kind of always on that list. Well, back in 2015, I had a friend who was um living in New Zealand for a brief period of time on a kind of a teaching um opportunity, and we went to go visit her while she was there. We had the most incredible trip. I think we were there for maybe 10 days, and every day that we were there, we said best day ever. We had so much fun and truly fell in love with New Zealand, and we knew that we would come back. So that was in 2015. Now we'll fast forward a little bit to early 2019. And in 2019, the very beginning of 2019, uh, I discovered that the world championships, the for the half Iron Man distance, so the 70.3 um Iron Man World Championships would take place in Taupo, New Zealand in the following year in 2020. And when I found this out, so what happens with the 70.3 world championships is they take place in a different location every year, all throughout the world. They're in all different places. And generally it gets announced a year or two in advance of where the next location is going to be. So when it was announced that the 2020 World Championships, 70.3 Iron Man World Championships, were going to take place in New Zealand, I my I just had an immediate response of I want to go. But right after that, right after I had this, I would love to go, I would love to do that. The very next sentence that came to my mind was, I don't think I can. I don't even think it's possible. I didn't believe it was possible, but I really thought it would be amazing. So I remember reaching out to my coach at the time and I asked him, Do you think I could do this? I would love to go back to New Zealand and it would be so incredible to race there. Do you think it's possible? And he said, Yes, of course. You can totally do that. Now, I really didn't think it was possible, but he believed in me. And I thought, well, if you believe in me, let's try. I was willing to see what I could do. I still didn't really think it was possible, but gosh, the dream and the idea of being able to go and being able to race there was so compelling to me that I thought, okay, let's make a plan. So we made a plan. There were three different races. There were there, what happens is there are different opportunities throughout the year leading up to the event where you can qualify. And you have to, there are certain number of qualifying spots for each of the qualifying races. So you need to go, you need to do at least one race, if not multiple, and you have to finish within a certain top, top portion of your age group. There are a limited number of slots for each age group at each rate race to then qualify for the opportunity to go. So I picked out three different races in the year of 2019 that I could possibly earn a slot. And then, so that was kind of like my plan to go. So the very first race that I was attempting to do this was the Boulder 70.3 triathlon in August of 2019. And I qualified at my very first attempt. I was beside myself. I never thought it was possible. I had three options lined up. And even then, I thought, well, I don't know, but I will try. I'm gonna see what I can do. And I qualified at my very first attempt. So this was amazing. I was I was beyond excited. And then Todd actually qualified at the same race. We were so excited. One of my favorite pictures actually is in my workout room that we have a bunch of pictures in our workout room that are inspiration for us, just key moments of times that we, you know, really was there are some finish line moments, there are some pre-race moments, there are some um just workout moments, whatever it is. We have a lot of different inspirational photos in our workout room. And one of my favorite photos is the a photo of uh Todd and I hugging each other. And it was, it was when he found out, he found out that he got his slot he um after I did, and he earned his on what's called a roll-down opportunity. So basically, um I won't go into the whole story, but but it was a while before we knew that Todd had qualified. And so I have this picture of when Todd got his slot. I already had mine, and the hug that the embrace that we have was just this moment of like, we did it. It was so amazing. All right, this is August of 2019. This race was supposed to take place in December. No, it was supposed to take place in November of 2020. So three months later, in November of 2019, I had a freak bike accident where I fractured my pelvis. Now, if you want the the the story of the bike accident and everything that happened could actually be its own podcast episode. And I'm not gonna go into too and into any more detail here, except to tell you that I actually wrote about this bike accident in my um blog over on Substack called The Peaceful Eater. And I wrote an article about it, including some pictures, some before and after photos uh of that day. Though, and they I will put a link in the show notes if you want to learn more about what happened with this bike accident. If you want to see some pictures, um small spoiler alload, it had to do with a cow crossing the road. So, anyway, that happened in November of 2019. Now, I still kept the dream alive, even though I had this crash in November of 2019. I had a fractured pelvis. They told me it would be a six to eight week recovery, and I kept this dream alive. So the the race, this original race, this the 70.3 World Championships, was supposed to take place on November 28th, 2020. This was going to be one year and one day after the accident. And this became my focus and my goal for recovery. I had this vision. This is going to be my comeback race. It's going to be one year and one day later. I could just, I was picturing being there, crossing that finish line, imagining the process and having recovered from a fractious, fractured pelvis. And then we all know what happened in March of 2020. COVID, the race got canceled. It got canceled entirely in 2020. And then in 2021, they did have another 70.3 world championship race, but they still couldn't have it in New Zealand because New Zealand uh had pretty stringent um in restrictions of keeping of allowing other people to come into their country for a couple of years. So in 2021, they did have the 70.3 world championships. They they they they had them in St. George, Utah. And I uh they basically gave us a all of the all of uh the people who had qualified for New Zealand in 2019 for the 2020 race, in 2021, they gave us an option. They said you can defer your entry, you can you can still go to New Zealand when it happens, which we don't really know when that's gonna be, but you can keep it. We do plan on having an event in New Zealand eventually as soon as we can. So you can keep that New Zealand slot, or you can transfer your slot and you can race in St. George, Utah instead in 2021. So I had the option and I thought, you know what, I can qualify. If I want to go to St. George, I can still qualify. I was now starting to believe that I really could qualify for these world championships events. Whereas before, I didn't even think it was possible. But I knew I wanted to go to New Zealand. I did not want to give up that slot. So I said, no, I am keeping my New Zealand slot. I will, I will just get a new slot, I will earn a slot and race in St. George. So that's what I did. I qualified, I raced in St. George in 2021. And also in 2022, they did the same thing. They had the again in 2022, they had the world championships in the same place. Again, they gave us the option. Do you want to keep your New Zealand slot or do you want to roll it into um, or do you want to race in St. George? In 2022, Todd decided, you know what? I'm gonna take my New Zealand slot and I'm gonna transfer it to St. George. That's what I want to do. I want to race there. And I thought, nope, I'm keeping my New Zealand slot. I am racing in New Zealand whenever I can. And I went ahead and I got another slot. I earned another slot to race in 2022. So that's what happened there. So I raced in St. George, Utah at the World Championships in 21 and in 2022. When I look back on this, I can see that qualifying for New Zealand back in 2019, it was the seed that was planted that helped me to believe that anything might be possible. I really wanted to qualify for the Iron Man, the full Iron Man distance world championships in Kona, Hawaii, but I literally never thought it would be possible. But getting this seed planted of wait, you know what? I did qualify for the 70.3 distance, the half Iron Man distance. Maybe, just maybe I could actually do this at the full Iron Man distance. Maybe, just maybe I could go to Kona, this iconic place. And I did. I went on to qualify in 2021 for the Iron Man World Championships, and I raced in Kona in 2022, and then I did it again in 2023, qualifying and racing in the same year. I can look back and I can see the evolution of my identity as an athlete and what was possible for me through all of this. And it started with this I would love to go to New Zealand. Do I think it might even be possible? Now, there are even more connections between this race and my adventures in Kona. Connections and stories that make this adventure and make all of this even more compelling. And I'm gonna share a couple of particular stories with you on next week's episode. So be sure to tune in next week. There are some stories you literally will not want to miss. So here we are. The race is finally happening. After New Zealand really kept their entire country closed for a long period of time because of COVID, then they finally opened it up. They finally decided, okay, yes, we can now have this race here. It is happening in just a couple of weeks' time. There are 2,000 athletes from around the world that are gonna gather in Lake Taupo, New Zealand. Now, I think the locals actually call it Topau. I'm gonna have to find out when I get there. Uh, it's either Taupo or Topah, New Zealand. The women are gonna race on Saturday, December 14th, and the men will race on the 15th. I'll tell you more also in next week's episode. In addition to some pretty amazing stories, I'll tell you kind of about the details and the logistics and what it's gonna look like while we're there. But here's what I want to say today. When I first set out with this dream of going to New Zealand, of racing in the 70.3 Ironman World Championships, I never could have imagined it would unfold in this way. That it would take five years to get there. And I never could have imagined all of the obstacles that I would need to overcome along the way. And this is the really interesting part of having dreams and of setting goals. It's so powerful to go after what you really want in life. But what I think is more powerful is seeing who you become along the way. It's important to let go of the how and the when. So when you think about a dream that you want for yourself, but you but you might find yourself kind of getting caught up in the how. How am I gonna do it? When is it gonna happen? This is what we need to let go of. We need to let go of the how and we need to let go of the when. But remember, this is not you giving up on your dreams or what's possible. You stay firm in the dream. I have been this entire time, I have been firm in my dream of going to New Zealand and racing in New Zealand. But I kind of had to let go of the how and the when. It's being open to the ways that it may unfold for you and being willing to adapt and adjust along the way while knowing that you have whatever desires you have for yourself, you have those desires for a reason. They are meant for you. It may not look exactly the way that you think it will look, but if you have those desires, they are yours for a reason. So, what desires do you have for yourself or for your life? If all things were possible, what would you love? I love this question. It's such a great journal prompt. If all things were possible, what would I love? So, how did I get here? How did I get here? On the cusp of going to New Zealand, I had a vision. I thought, I would love to go to New Zealand and to race in the 70.3 World Championships. I didn't think it was possible, but I asked my coach, do you think this is possible? He said, Yes. He believed in me before I believed in myself. And I trusted him. We worked together with a shared vision, and I did what I didn't think was possible. Then I fractured my pelvis, and nothing seemed possible. But again, I had a vision and I had a lot of support to get me through the moments of doubt and disbelief. And trust me, there were many of those. Now, today I have a different coach who supports me, but I tell you what I'm gonna do. When I am done recording this podcast, I am going to reach out to that first coach to let him know just how much that his belief in me mattered. He truly was such an important part of this whole process. It would have been so easy for me to be to have that spark and that I would love that. And it would be so easy for that doubt to that initial that very next thought that came in that thought, ah, you won't be able to do that. You can't do that. It would have been very easy for me to just believe that and squash it all. As humans, we are all going to have doubts. And we are all going to have dreams. So, my question for you is this Do you have someone in your corner who can help you believe in your dreams for yourself? I would have given up on this dream or not even pursued it if it was just me with my doubts and my fears. But my coach was able to say, Yes, you can do this. A coach is so often able to see what you can't see yet, to hold belief in your dreams, to give you a path to get there even while you have doubt and uncertainty. I am so thankful to my previous coach and to my current coach that I would not want to be on this path without one. If you have dreams for yourself, but your own doubts and uncertainties prevent you from taking action, please find someone to support you. It might be a coach, it might be a loved one, it might be someone else who has already done the thing that you really want to do for yourself. But there is someone out there who can and will support you. Now, if you're ready to pursue your own dreams and you're ready to have someone in your corner and you wonder, gosh, I wonder, is it possible that Jane could help me pursue my own dreams? I will put a link in the show notes where we can schedule a call. Just if you're curious, if you want to see, is this something you could help me with? If you want to see if we could be a fit for each other, I'll put a link in the show notes. We can schedule a call and just chat about it. While I love, love going after my own dreams. The thing that it actually inspires me the most is guiding others to experiences that they never thought possible for themselves. The Iron Man slogan is anything is possible. This is true for me, and it's true for you too. I am living this slogan right now. Anything is possible. I wasn't sure if it might be possible five years ago, but I knew it was something that I wanted. And now I'm getting ready to go. It's like wow. It was possible. It is possible. So I hope you are inspired to think about what you maybe have a dream of. The dream that you think, I would love that for myself, but I'm not sure if it's possible. I want you to know anything is possible. And yes, it probably will require having support to believe in the possibility while you grow in your belief. This is how we all end up doing the things that we never thought were possible. All right, that's what I have for you this week. Be sure to tune in next week for part two of this series, where I'm gonna share some pretty amazing stories and connections that are really hard to believe. You will for sure want to hear about this. And I'm gonna tell you more on about what's on tap for New Zealand itself if you want to know. Also, I'll let you know a little bit about um how I'm preparing, how I'm preparing for the time there as well as when I get back. It's gonna be a great adventure. I'm uh excited to uh let you in a little bit on um on little pieces of it. And uh I'll see you next week for more.

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