Over the Next Hill Fitness
Welcome! We all know, as we age, it’s harder to put ourselves first and get in enough fitness, flexibility, and nutrition. Maybe you’re new to formatted exercise, maybe we need to push to the next level or set some goals. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to run a 5K, a marathon, or even an ULTRA marathon. This podcast is designed to get you moving and headed towards those goals. You’ll have opportunities for general coaching during each episode or you may contact me for personal coaching afterward. Are you ready to get over this next hill in life? Let’s get started.
Over the Next Hill Fitness
S3 Ep 18 Never Too Late: Finding Your Athletic Passion After 45 with Sheilagh Galinsky
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What does it take to run 189 marathons across all seven continents and every U.S. state? Meet Sheilagh Galinsky, who at 80 years young, shares her extraordinary athletic journey that began at age 45 when a friend's marathon medal sparked her curiosity.
Sheila takes us through her remarkable running adventures—from navigating glaciers and battling katabatic winds in Antarctica to running past alligators in South Carolina and experiencing the historic route from Marathon to Athens. Her story isn't just about endurance; it's about discovering passion later in life and refusing to let age dictate limitations. Despite being a physical therapist until age 73, Sheilagh maintained her training regimen throughout her career and beyond.
The conversation travels beyond marathons into her triathlon experiences, including completing two Ironman competitions and the notorious Alcatraz Triathlon where participants jump from boats into frigid waters and face 400 sand stairs after swimming and cycling. Sheilagh's matter-of-fact recounting of these extreme physical challenges reveals her extraordinary mental fortitude and love for athletic pursuits.
What resonates most powerfully is Sheilagh's simple yet profound wisdom: "Exercise is the best medicine you can do." She emphasizes finding physical activities you genuinely enjoy to ensure lifelong commitment. As she approaches her 190th marathon, she's adjusting her approach—running a bit slower to increase endurance and extend her running career.
Ready for inspiration to fuel your fitness journey? Listen now and discover how age truly is just a number when pursuing your passions. Whether you're a seasoned athlete or contemplating your first 5K, Sheilagh's story proves it's never too late to lace up those running shoes and chase your dreams.
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Welcome and Sponsor Introduction
Speaker 1Hello and welcome back to Over the Next Hill Fitness Podcast. I'm Carla Coffey, your coach and host for today's program, as usual. Just to let you know, if you need a coach a running or fitness coach I'm available. I have some online spots definitely available and a few in-home if you're local to the Madison Wisconsin area and a few in-home if you're local to the Madison Wisconsin area. Today's program is also sponsored by Hydra Patch. If you have not yet tried Hydra Patch, there is a link in the show notes so that you can try it.
Speaker 1I really love it in the summer. It is really a good product. It's kind of like a nicotine patch, but it gives you electrolytes through your skin. You still have to drink the water, but then you don't have to have that taste of all the. You know the things that we put in our water. So if you want to try that and give that a try, there's some other links in there. You can also buy me a cup of coffee and help support the program and lots of things you can do, but if nothing else, please share, follow and rate the program Five stars, please. I really appreciate that. It means a lot to me when you do that. There's also a button in the show notes where you can send me a text. I, however, cannot text you back through that button, so if you would like me to answer you, please send me an email or a text number so I can do so. If you have questions that you'd like answered about running or fitness, I'd be happy to answer those for you. If you'd like to be on the show, that's a great place to let me know that you want to tell your story. You want the world to hear it, or at least a few of my listeners anyways. So thanks for all that.
Sheila's Running Journey Begins
Speaker 1Today we're going to be talking to Sheila Galinsky. You guys, I didn't get on the program. She told me this afterwards. She was third in the Athens marathon in her age group and in San Diego she beat all the men in her age group. And she didn't say it in the podcast. I said I'm saying it in your introduction. So there you go. So you guys are going to love her story and I will see you at the end. Hi, sheila, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2Hi, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's so great to have you here. It was great to have met you. I was very intrigued talking to you the little bit I did I mostly talked to your sister and so I really wanted to hear your fitness story, your running journey and all the things, all things, sheila. So tell us how you got started and why you got started with running.
Speaker 2Okay, well, I don't know how long we have, but you know, as a child I was in that era that we just were outside all day, so we just ran around and did things like that. And then, as I got older, I played tennis. And then we moved and I played tennis and swam. And I was working one day and one of my friends walked in with a medal from the LA Marathon and she said anyone can do it. You know, people were walking, anybody can do it, and everyone's going. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and Anyone could do it. You know people were walking, anybody can do it and everyone's going, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2And she said, in the stadium, the college, the local college there, and as I walked in, they're going oh, here's our wearer. And I went, wow, and the one man that had done the double, had done the full marathon, ran past me and I thought, oh God, marathon ran past me. And I thought, oh God, so, um. So then the second race I did was in Culver city and, um, I was with a number of other people and when we got to the finish at under five hours, the finish line was gone.
Speaker 1Oh no.
Speaker 2So that was my first official marathon. Yeah, it was gone. There were no medals, there was nothing. I guess they felt we were too slow. So the next one I did was LA and I love LA because everybody can do it. You know, they don't care how long it takes. And I finished. I was race walking and they actually have proctors on the course. You have to walk properly. Oh, so I finished and then I went back to the group, the race walking group, and they said aren't you Sheila? And I said yeah, and they said, well, you won your age. And I said, oh, I don't know about that. And they said yes, yes, time-wise. So I said okay, and they said, well, we're going to take the medal away from the first place winner and give it to you. So I said, you know, don't do that. But they said they have to. So I got a gold medal, wow.
Speaker 2After that I started running because I felt that the walking was too slow. So I started walking and I had friends that did a lot of them, and so I have a friend that's done hundreds of them, really, and it's nice to have a group, yeah, and then I got involved with traveling with it, because my husband didn't really like to travel, so I would go with marathon tours and things like that. So I did a lot of races and just did more and more. And how?
Speaker 1long ago did you start all this.
Speaker 2I was 45.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2Yeah, because when I was younger, in the early 70s, nike started and Gym Fix and I thought, oh, I'll try that. So I got a pair of Nikes and I ran and I thought, god, I'll never do this again. I didn't like it. But starting with the walking and the race walking really got me into the running and then I had new friends. So then we started to do triathlons and I did a couple of Ironmen yeah, half Ironmen so, um. So then you're recycling and you were swimming. So that was really good for you, as far as not the pounding all the time. Right, your fitness was there, but you still, um were able to to run pretty well.
Speaker 1So it was good cross training really.
Marathons Around the World
Speaker 2Yes, it's good cross training. Yeah, it really is so. So I've done a lot of them now I've I've done a marathon every state. I've done one on every continent yeah, antarctica, I would never do again no, tell me about antarctica, why not?
Speaker 2it was beautiful and it was a long trip because we went first into Argentina and we were in Buenos Aires and then went to Ushuaia, which is very, very snowy, and then the end of the world, you know, tierra del Mundo, and then we got on a boat and went over and we would travel to different areas on a boat. It was a small boat. There were about 120 people on it, which was really nice because it didn't take you long to get on and off and we didn't run any. You know that whole week we didn't do much, but we did run a little bit on the boat. But then you've got, uh, when the door is open, you know there's a stand about this big. You've got to jump over. So we, a day or so before the race, we did a 10k there, um, so then they took two groups over because their boats weren't. We didn't have enough boats to take everybody at one time, so not everybody started, but we went to.
Speaker 2There were four or five different science stations. We started with, I think, chile and we went to the Russian, the Chinese, uruguay, and you start out with a half and then you come back to your start. Your shoes, which are, are just soaked and frozen. You can change and warm up and change your clothes if you need to, if you're really wet. But the winds, the katamatic winds, were really something. And you start out up a glacier and then you go the second time and the glacier is kind of melted a little bit from the sun and your feet go in. If you've ever walked in a lot of snow and by that time you're pretty tired. That was really difficult, but it was a wonderful experience though. All together I loved it. We saw lots of animals and Antarctica is so beautiful the different colors of the icebergs it's just amazing. So I really like that.
Speaker 1So when you did the continents, did you do the seven races in seven days?
Speaker 2Or did you do it?
Speaker 1separately Okay.
Speaker 2I don't think they did them at that time. I did oh Lord. It was like 99. I did the first one. I did Antarctica at 99. So that's a long time ago.
Speaker 1That's a better way to do it, though. I mean, if I was going to do that, I wouldn't want to just rush through that.
Speaker 2No, because we visited where we went, which was we went to. When I did Paris, you know we spent a week in Paris. When I did Dublin, we spent time there. And the last international one was Greece, and that was a wonderful race. You know, you start out at their new Olympic village where they've got the auditorium or not the auditorium but the field and then you run back to the old track that's made out of marble, very small. Yeah, it was really. I really enjoyed that. Yeah, it was wonderful.
Speaker 1So so let's start with your states. Which state would you say was your favorite marathon, or which couple? Those are my favorites for your states, you feel.
Speaker 2You know, I really like LA Really. I've done like 28 or something like that of them, yeah, yeah, and you don't have to qualify, you don't have to be in a lottery, anybody can do it, which I like, and it's a big city and there's a lot of hella blue about it, a lot of supporters and things like that. Other ones were interesting for different reasons. Now, when I did Kiowa Island, we had alligators out there. You could see them in the ponds with their eyes sticking up and they ran out of water. We did laps and they ran out of water, which they must know. How many people are there when it's warm? Because it was warm. I don't remember what time of year we did it, but it was warm.
Speaker 1And where is that?
Speaker 2Kiowa Island I'm trying to think where that is. I don't know, I don't think when I even did it. Keowah Island oh, it's in Charleston, south Carolina. They take you out on the island. The average person can't go, but if you go on a race you can. And a lot of the international ones too, were interesting, as I say, because you were able to spend time, like in Beijing, spend time visiting.
Speaker 1Of those ones which would be your favorite.
Speaker 2We know not.
Speaker 1Antarctica, although beautiful.
Speaker 2Yes, probably Paris.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, because of the Arc de Triomphe. But you're running on cobblestone, oh, and the next day your feet are really beat up. Yeah, yeah, and I think they even had some carpet. It's like New York City when you go over one of the bridges, there's a small, because it's wire or metal, and there's a small carpet, but there are too many people to go on it Right so have you done the seven majors as well.
Speaker 1I think it was probably maybe five back then.
Speaker 2I've done. What is it? Chicago, new York, boston?
Speaker 1Tokyo no, not Tokyo London no.
Speaker 2London, london, berlin, london, paris, dublin, have you done Berlin as well.
Speaker 1That's one of them.
Speaker 2No, no, and those were never in the original group.
Speaker 1Okay, no, no.
Speaker 2And those were never in the original group. Okay yeah, and a lot of them now have time limits.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Which makes a difference too as you age. Sure, yeah, yeah, you know you're going to be slower, because when we were in Beijing, one of the guys there was a four and a half or five hour limit and they took a bus because you were on some of their freeways. They took a bus and picked everybody up and one of the men we found out later had some dementia. He didn't get on the bus and we couldn't find him.
Speaker 1Oh no.
Speaker 2We had to drive around for quite a while to try to find him. Yeah, oh, wow, so Wow.
Speaker 1I know.
Speaker 2So you know, I like the Marine Corps because you're going through past the Smithsonian and the White House and there's no cars, there's no people out there. That was really nice too. I like to see a lot of people like to be in the woods, and I've done a lot of those, but I like more of the buildings and things.
Speaker 1Yeah, so you're more of a road runner than a trail runner.
Speaker 2Exactly. Yeah, I find I have a slight perceptual problem and, like some of them, the trail running it's cold in the morning, so your eyes water and you know the leaves are kind of frozen over. So your eyes water and you know the leaves are kind of frozen over, and then you come back and it's mushy as or as you go on if you're. It gets mushy and it's it's harder. So, yeah, I'm not much of a trail runner, especially going. I did Griffith Park and you're in sand and you could hear people sliding down behind you and you're like, oh my god, they're gonna knock us down.
Speaker 1So yeah, I don't do a lot of trail myself um, but it is significantly harder, I think so yeah yeah, it's like I understand, like I do like some of our dirt paths around here, just when I'm doing a long run, just to kind of be off of the cement you know, but it's not, it's not really a trail run, you know, because it's just a path right, it's not over tree roots and whatever.
Speaker 2Um, but yeah, I struggle in the woods yeah, now, sometimes I like to run on our trails here, but they're, they're blacktop, but usually there's a little bit on the side. You can run too and I like that. Yeah, yeah, and you're right, it's good to get a different feel for your feet and your knees and everything.
Speaker 1Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2When you're off, yeah.
Speaker 1So throughout your running career have you had many injuries.
Speaker 2No.
Speaker 1Really.
Speaker 2The only real injury I had was in Palos Verdes, who you've heard has landslides. The road was broken and I ran on it and I tore my fascia. I didn't have fasciitis, it was a torn fascia. It took six or eight weeks before I could walk and start to run again, but no, I really haven't.
Speaker 1Oh good for you.
Speaker 2I've got a knee that has had a tumor and has had surgery and it's shorter than the other one, but really haven't had a problem.
Speaker 1That's great, mm-hmm. So when I met you, were you wrapping up another set of your 50 states. Are you getting started?
Speaker 2No, no, no, I've done that. Yeah, I did that a long time ago. No, the only reason I'm 180, I was 188. So now I'm 189 marathon. So, and you like to kind of round it, my sister said I know, I know we're going to do another one, um, but I don't know if I'd ever make 200.
Speaker 1Sure you will. It's only 10, well, 11 more.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, I could, I could.
Speaker 1Absolutely.
Speaker 2Yeah, because I'm running again now today. I took it easy last week but walked, still walked, but ran today.
Speaker 1Do you have another marathon on the books?
Favorite Marathons and Races
Speaker 2No, I don't, and it would be. I'm not familiar. You know, I haven't lived in the States for almost seven years, so I'm not real familiar and especially I've never lived here with the area. As far as what would be close, I'd like to go someplace relatively close because I'm not going to do a lot of traveling on my own. When I was with the group it was okay and a lot of us would do them together, Like we went to Arizona together, went to New York a number of times together, and that that makes it much more fun. That's why I was so glad my sister decided she would do the half. Yeah, yeah. And she said you must, you must've, I must've held you back because you did faster on the second half and I said no, not really, you know, it's more pleasant.
Speaker 1Tell her you were going for the negative split.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's right. That's right, that's what you're always looking for. And then they gave her the wrong time. They said it was 3.23, which is better than what she did. When I did the pavo in Wisconsin or maybe it's Michigan a number of years ago, she walked it with my brothers and she said it was hard to keep up with them and they did like a 325. So she said I'm not telling them, 323 is their personal best. There you go.
Speaker 1So where did you live prior before coming back to the States? Costa Rica, oh wow. And why were you there? Just for funsies?
Speaker 2No, no, we lived there. I retired at 73 only because my husband wanted to move somewhere. He thought California. We were in California over 40 years. He felt that we needed to go someplace, that he would feel more comfortable in with the political situation. So we looked at all the states and we couldn't decide together which one we wanted. So he decided well, let's look out of the country. So we tried Costa Rica. I really liked it. I worked at an animal rescue. Costa Rica I really liked it. I worked at an animal rescue. I worked at a senior center with exercises and doing some Zumba with them, and at the cultural center doing exercises too. So I really enjoyed Costa Rica. But then he became ill and we had to come back here and he's passed away. He passed away after we got back a very short time, after like two months. So and I don't yeah, I, I don't think I would move back on my own. I have friends there, but I have family here, sure yeah, yeah and I'm yeah, and I'm 80, I'd like to stay close.
Speaker 2My children are here, my brothers and sisters, so I'll stay here, and we and we did live on Guam for four years too- oh my. Yeah, he was in the service. That was interesting.
Speaker 1Did you do any races while you were there? Did they have races?
Speaker 2No, no, at that time, that was well before I started, okay, but they do have a marathon now, but it's got to be hotter than Hades, right, but it's got to be hotter than Hades, and humidity, yeah, I can't so do any of your children run.
Speaker 2My son has walked a marathon and I walked one with him. It's one of the LAs. Um, my daughter, no, she has a disease, she couldn't do that type of thing. Um, and he's just not interested. And my husband, you know, we were married for 57 years, we were together for 60 years and he never would exercise in his life, never, never. You know, I was a physical therapist and I'd say, well, you know, that might be better, your back might be better if you did this or that Doesn't matter. No, and do you?
Speaker 1have grandchildren.
Speaker 2I have two boys, two grandchildren.
Speaker 1Okay, yeah. And are they interested in running any marathons with you or habs or anything?
Speaker 2They have done when they were younger. They have done some, and then they did some in school. Now the elder is not and the younger one is playing hockey and football. Yeah, so he's still in high school. And the younger one is playing hockey and football yeah, so he's still in high school. And the other one is out of high school, but he's not interested anymore. He did play basketball and they played soccer, football, wow, but a lot of kids are like that, and then he may develop something later on too.
Speaker 1Yeah, a lot of us come to running a little later in life. I did too in my late 40s.
Speaker 2Yeah, unless you were on a track team or something. But where we grew up in northern Wisconsin, on Lake Superior, there was no sports for girls and there was no gym. There was absolutely nothing. So you know, if you're not introduced to it it makes it. But we were outside. So I said we did a lot of, you know, running around. We're the type that go out in the morning and you didn't come back until dinner time.
Speaker 1Right yeah.
Speaker 2Which kids don't do now?
Speaker 1No, they don't. No, it's something you know. I kind of get it. So, along with your running, did you do strength training to kind of offset some of the teardown? Oh, yes, yes.
Speaker 2I would go in. In California we had a group we did TRX in weights, yeah, yeah, and we do it at least twice a week, yeah, and then I would run other days.
Speaker 1And do you continue that training?
Taking on Triathlons and Ironman
Speaker 2no-transcript. So yeah, it's important for us as we age absolutely bone wise, muscle wise, yeah, mental. It's.
Speaker 1The best medicine you can do is exercise absolutely yeah, yeah, it sounds like you keep that same schedule, though, that you did when you were younger I try to.
Speaker 2Yeah, it gets a lot easier to sit around more when you get older absolutely I don, I don't, I don't, I don't have as much to do. You know, I was working up until we retired and then I was like, what am I going to do? So then you had to go that wasn't until you were 73. Yeah so yeah.
Speaker 2I really liked it, but I knew I was getting weaker. You know, if you're a physical therapist you can't do everything at 73. You could at 25 or 30 or 40. So I knew I was coming to the end.
Speaker 2So yeah and I didn't want to be just someone that did paperwork that I I wouldn't want to do. It was a perfect um occupation because you know you were, you did things. You were kind of a, a detective, trying to figure out you know what's wrong with this patient, how can you help them. And you were active with it and you knew if you didn't like them, you didn't have them long, which is something else. It's not like working with people every day and you don't like half of them but yeah, so I've had a good life.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah and um.
Speaker 1So now we just need to find you another race to do, sounds like yes, I really do. I know it's been over a week now, so yeah yeah, time to get back out there and pound that pavement and this is the time of the year you want the fall or the spring, right?
Speaker 2Because I was amazed, we moved here in September and it was nice for a couple of months and then you couldn't go outside. Yeah, it was horrible. But I'm in a small apartment and we have a gym downstairs which is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. But you know, running on a treadmill is really boring.
Speaker 1It is indeed.
Speaker 2If you've never done any distance. Yeah, To prepare for a marathon, that would be horrible.
Speaker 1Yeah, during COVID, some friends and I in the wintertime I think it was just after the pandemic kind of was lightened up, but we it was just so rotten outside and we did a half marathon on on our treadmills and just kind of kept, like you know, texting back and forth and it was miserable. But knowing that you were suffering with friends, it kind of helped you get through it, you know, but yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, I did some shorter ones Cause I come back to california occasionally I have a friend there that I stay with and we did where you run on your own and you just keep track of your time and then they decide who wins, I guess in each category. But at least it was something to do, right? Yeah?
Speaker 1Yeah, it's that treadmill. I mean. I know it serves a purpose, but I didn't do it every day I used to be able to, but not now. Not once I ever ran outside.
Speaker 2Yeah, I think that's true. I think that once you've been outside or you've been on it too long that you just don't want to do it. It's much easier outside Things change. You can, I don't want to do it. It's much easier outside Things change. I don't know if you listen to music. I listen to books now and it keeps you busy. We're inside, even if you have a book or music inside on a treadmill, it's not the same. It's much more difficult. It really is. It's hotter too. It's hotter yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, to me I could be listening to the same exact thing, but that you know that mile, that many of the miles seen on a treadmill go so much slower.
Speaker 2And they do, they do yeah.
Speaker 1I have to cover up the time because that's even worse. You know, it's like I don't even want to see how long I've been here and you think well, I've been doing this at least an hour, right? Oh, it's been 10 minutes.
Speaker 2Right, exactly, that's the problem. You look at it and you go oh, but if you know the distance and we used to run on PCH and we had the distances marked, so you knew there were six miles, there was 10 miles and that was really nice, yeah, really nice yeah, and you could plan exactly what you wanted to do, you know, depending on how close you're getting to a race.
Speaker 1Yeah Now have you done any ultras or anything like that, Any 50 Ks?
Speaker 2No, no, well we we. One time I think they made us run too far, but I've never knowingly done one.
Speaker 1Nothing on purpose, no that's right.
Speaker 2No, that's right. Yeah, no. And they always say when you get older that that's what you want to do. Someone at mainly marathons was telling me that, but I've never felt that I needed to. Yeah, have you run ultras.
Speaker 1I have, yeah, I've run a couple.
Speaker 2Have you yeah.
Speaker 1And how do they? Do you like them I do, are they? Better. Well, I really like probably my favorite distance is the marathon distance, but I've done two 100s and I've done a 50 and a 50K. I like the 50 mile and I really like the 100 mile. The only thing yeah, the only thing I don't like about the 100 mile is I am such a chicken to run in the dark that I need to find people that will come through the night with me, and that's kind of a burden for them, you know.
Speaker 2But it's such an irrational fear I can't. I can't get out.
Speaker 1Are you on hills or something? Are you on a road? Is it dangerous? No, Well, like I've done one road 100 and I've done one trail 100. You know, I don't want to be in the woods in the dark by myself. No, no I didn't want to be on these country roads in the dark by myself well, that's what happened to me when I did, uh, ironman Canada.
Speaker 2You um, finish your your bike and you start out. It's 13.1 miles out around the lake and there's no lights or anything out there, and so they give you these little glow sticks which really the cars can see you, but that's not gonna help, right, um, and I was running with a woman and I think we were coming back, and we found someone on the ground oh no and we tried to talk to him and I didn't know if he didn't know English.
Speaker 2He was awake, His eyes were open, he was breathing, but he didn't want to get up and he wouldn't talk to us. So I stayed with him and she ran and it's pitch dark. I thought, you know we can't leave him in the road here because someone will run over him. So I don't know why they, but you know it's a 17 hour thing, so you eventually have to get in the dark yeah, Cause in Florida it was the same thing. Or you come up to a great big bright light and you can't run because you can't see there's so much glare?
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah. And so how many Ironmans did you do? The Ironman distance, the whatever.
Speaker 2I finished two. The third one, I tore a rotator cuff and the swim was really, you know it was, and I'm not a good swimmer, that's my worst thing and so I didn't get out of the water. It was like a minute late out of the water and so, and I was foolish, because I'm afraid, because I was older, um and um, you know, it's a mass start and there's like 2 000 people, and so you think, okay, I'm going to get out in the water because they usually have kayaks where you start, I'm going to get in the water so that they don't run over me. Well then, they swam over me because the kayaks get out of the way and you know 2 000 people come and, oh man, you get bumped and banged. Yeah, because the smaller triathlons usually do you by age. Yeah, and that's much easier, much, much better yeah or like that I've done um I've been to.
Speaker 1I've done one. Um, I've been to, I've done one Ironman. Um, which one did you do? I did the one here in Wisconsin. Oh, okay, yeah, and I had to learn to swim to do it, and I don't like swimming, and so I'm one and done that was like a bucket list thing.
Speaker 1But but I wanted to cheer on some friends and they did it by um, you got to kind of seat yourself based on what your swim time was, so that was kind of good, because then you can go in with people that are swimming at your ability and not people running over you, Right.
Speaker 1Ideally that's, you know, ideally, but yeah, during my Ironman swim. So they did that with your time. But the fast people kind of caught us. Oh sure, because it was two loops. And this guy I'm assuming it was a guy, because he felt so strong he must have been finishing a stroke he put his hand right in the middle of my back and pushed me under and pushed off of me and kept going. That is when you're not a strong swimmer, that's so terrifying. And I come up and I swam for my life and I got a PR on that swim.
Speaker 1I was just I got to get out of here, and I swam as fast and as hard as I could.
Speaker 2I came out of one. I don't know if it was Malibu or where it was, but I had a split lip and in the cold water it doesn't bleed, oh yeah. And then you get out and it bleeds. Do you get kicked? Yeah, you get kicked.
Speaker 2The one that really was difficult was the Alcatraz Triathlon. You did that. You know you have to jump off a boat and I thought I don't want all these people jumping on me. So I got out there first Because again they had. You can't go off the island. They take you out in a boat. And then they've got the kayaks out there and the horn whistles and everybody jumps off the boat and I thought I'm going to have a heart attack. I know I will when I get that cold water. And people were everywhere and what they announced is if you look off the bow of the boat and you are going that way and you see the Koi Tower way over to your left, swim to the Koi Tower, because they said the current is just going to take you to China and they have little dinghies out there that grab people that are heading out and apparently they don't penalize people. They'll get them going again or they might even take them to the shore and then let them off, which I thought was right but anyhow.
The Antarctica Marathon Experience
Speaker 2But that was really tough, that was really cold. But you know, that's the reason I started doing triathlons. I watched one on TV and this guy comes up and said, this big brown thing bumped into me and I thought wow. And then, watching it, I thought I couldn't do that. But the run was really. It's like 400 sand stairs up, 400 sand stairs up. Oh, there's a rope there which helps you. But after you have to run to the water and get in and no, you jump in. You run from the swim in your bare feet to your bike because they want your core temperature to come up, because if the water is so cold they're afraid you'll have hypothermia. So you have to run like two miles before you can get your bike.
Speaker 1Holy crap.
Speaker 2And then you're on your bike, a couple of laps and then the sandblad. Oh, I can remember that that sounds so interesting. But it was interesting. I didn't want a lot of them, you just do one, oh.
Speaker 1God, it sounds terrible. Yeah, wow, a lot of them, you just do one.
Speaker 2Oh God that sounds terrible.
Speaker 1Yeah, wow. So what race do you think was the hardest thing you've ever done? Was it Ironman? Was it a certain marathon?
Speaker 2What do you think? No, I would say, it was probably Antarctica.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Because we're on glaciers, we're on rocks, the wind, the cold, and then your feet would get wet from all the snow and the ice. Yeah, that was really tough and you didn't have. What they did is. They took bottles and they threw them in a pile someplace, and so then you had to dig through and find your bottle if you wanted anything to drink. So that was probably the toughest. Wow and I'm sure it's probably changed there are more and more people doing it.
Speaker 1How many people? Were doing it that year when you did it.
Speaker 2Well, there were halves and wholes, so I don't know exactly how many did it, but there were about 120 on the board. Yeah, you mentioned that and they were all racers.
Speaker 1They weren't just spectators.
Speaker 2There was, I think, one woman that was there with her son. There might have been a couple, but not many. Most of them weren't because it was a lot of money to go. Yeah, I bet, so, yeah, so people, most of them were racers.
Speaker 1So, where did you stay? Was there a hotel you stayed, or what? At antarctica? Oh no, you're on the boat.
Speaker 2Oh, you just stay on the boat, gotcha, and we had, we had botanists, and because then they would take us to an area and we would get out and they would say now this was an old whaling area and you see'd see the animals. They'd take us in the boats and you could see the sea lions and the little penguins oh, we're so cute. We would see different types of penguins and, as I said, they would have biologists there, you know, talking about what type of bird we're going to see and all that type of thing, and it was very interesting. And it was very interesting and it was really rough.
Speaker 2Then you go across the Drake Passage, which is, I guess, the roughest water in the world, because you have the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Southern Oceans, that mix, oh yeah, and there were people that fell down. You slept in a box so you didn't fall out, and you could hear your luggage going wham, wham, wham back and forth in the locker. And they served you food in a box too. You had your plate inside a box so it didn't slide off the table, but you know you'd sit there and you'd go, eh.
Speaker 1Wow.
Speaker 2Oh, yeah, oh.
Speaker 1I bet you people were getting so seasick.
Speaker 2Yeah, wow, oh yeah, I bet you people were getting so seasick. Yeah, well, it's not like being on a you know these ocean, um, these huge cruise ships, because they're so big, you know there's really not a lot of motion with it, but you get a small boat it was an old russian, uh, science boat. Um, yeah, it was interesting. I love all that stuff. It was very interesting.
Speaker 1That's so amazing. So if you could tell the audience any words of wisdom. If there's something that I haven't asked you that you'd like to tell them, let's get this. Get that out. Asked you that you'd like to tell them, let's get that out there. What would you like to?
Speaker 2Are you talking specifically about runners?
Speaker 1Whatever Triathletes old women like us? I don't know.
Speaker 2Well, as I say, I think that exercise is the best medicine you can do, and people need to find the type of exercise they like so they continue it, whether it's walking, cycling, swimming, tennis. You know people need to do something physically and you don't have to follow everybody else. If you don't like running or you don't like swimming, find something you do like and uh. But I think running for me is the best exercise for me as far as cardiology and and uh bone density, muscle strength, things like that. So I like running and it's going to be hard if I have to stop, I think I just I'm just trying to learn to run a little bit slower so I increase my endurance for it and to be able to continue.
Speaker 2Sometimes we have to just continue like the Indian that was 114, that just died, 100 years old. It was like what? Four and a half hours or something like that. It was amazing. Yeah, I'd be lucky to get four and a half again.
Speaker 2Well, yes, yes, yes. Well, you know, boston Qualifier at 80 is five hours and 50 minutes. So when I was at this one, I thought that's not so bad. I'm not so bad because I knew I wouldn't do Boston Qualifier there, yeah. So, yeah, just find some kind of a passion with some type of exercise. Yeah, you need to keep moving great wisdom.
Speaker 1Great wisdom, it's really serving you well. I would never have believed that you were 80, you said Except for the wrinkles.
Speaker 2That's why I like COVID's masks. Nobody knows, but I was outside so much and we were kids there was no sunblock. Yeah, we were just outside all the time, so it is what it is.
Speaker 1Absolutely, yeah Well, thank you so much, sheila, for being on the show. I've thoroughly enjoyed your story and I will look forward to seeing you around here in Madison.
Speaker 2Okay, good. Well, will your husband do the race again next year? I don't know. Maybe he he said it was one, and done, but he's been talking like maybe he'll do another. Oh you, you, you. Always, after it's over, you always say that and then you're like I could do better. I could do better next time. Yeah, all right. Well, thank you for being so kind. I was nervous about this, you did great, we'll talk again okay, thanks but okay okay, okay, bye-bye all right.
Staying Active at 80
Speaker 1Thanks for listening in. I really appreciate your time. I hope you enjoyed Sheila's story. Quite an inspiration and she's local to me. She only lives like two miles. She's been here for about a year, I guess. So yeah, she's two miles away and we'll probably maybe go for a walk or a run or have a coffee together, so that's exciting. Thanks again for listening. Please share and rate the program and we'll see you next time.
