When Your Heart Stops and Life Really Starts: Dr. Kate Mihevc Edwards on Reinventing Her Athlete Identity and Building a Life + Career She Loves

In this heartfelt and powerful episode of Sink and Swim, Julie sits down with one of her oldest friends and PT school classmates, Dr. Kate Mihevc Edwards—a renowned running medicine specialist, clinic founder, author, and entrepreneur.

Kate shares the life-altering moment when her body forced her to stop mid-run, igniting a years-long journey through misdiagnoses, identity loss, and ultimately the discovery of a rare genetic heart condition. Together, Julie and Kate reflect on the irony of being healthcare providers who ignored their own bodies, the devastating unraveling of an athletic identity, and the courage it takes to rebuild life and purpose on new terms.

From launching her own clinic to building the RunSource app, writing books, and raising her son while navigating his inherited genetic risk, Kate has turned her crisis into a blueprint for healing and integrative care that blends science and soul. Their conversation weaves together laughter, tears, and hard-earned wisdom about agency, boundaries, motherhood, entrepreneurship, and the unexpected beauty of slowing down.

00:00 – Old Friends, New Conversation
Meet Kate, her laughter, and her unique blend of science and soul.

02:41 – The Run That Changed Everything
Kate recounts the terrifying moment of going into ventricular tachycardia on a neighborhood run.

06:34 – Misdiagnoses, Identity Loss, and Finally the Truth
 Nine months of tests, dismissals, and finally a diagnosis of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy.

13:47 – Agency in the Face of Medicine
 Why Kate said “no” to immediate surgery and chose to make decisions on her own terms.

15:39 – Leaving the Job, Building Precision
 How a toxic clinic environment and personal health crisis pushed Kate to start her own practice.

28:18 – From Clinic to Community Impact
 Growing Precision, collaborating with the Atlanta Track Club, and creating the RunSource app.

37:55 – Science Meets Soul
 Kate explains how her patient work, research, and new podcast bridge medicine with intuition and humanity.

49:50 – A New Kind of “Retirement”
 Kate’s reimagined lifestyle of white space, boundaries, and putting her health first.

56:17 – Lightning Round
 From eagle spirit animals to pineapple on pizza, Kate shares her quirks and hidden pleasures.

1:04:55 – What She’d Tell Her Past Self
The wisdom Kate would whisper to the version of herself still clinging to the Garmin data.

Love what you hear and want to learn more from Kate?

Follow her on instagram at @katemihevcedwards

Visit her website at https://www.katemihevcedwards.com/

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Transcript

Julie Granger (00:58)

Hello friends, welcome back to Sink and Swim. Today's episode is such a special one because I got to sit down with one of my oldest and dearest friends, Dr. Kate Mihevc Edwards Kate and I have walked through so much of life together from laughing until we cry, crying until we laugh. And she's one of those people whose laugh alone is medicine. And when I invited her onto this podcast, we were at breakfast and I was like, I really hope everyone gets to hear the laugh.

Not that I doubted that you would get to hear it, but she followed through on this one and you definitely get to hear it. It's the most amazing thing. We dig into the story about the day that her body changed the trajectory of her life and what really unraveled from there in her identity and also in her career. She was out on what seemed like a normal Monday run.

And something went sideways. So we'll dig into that and all of the life changing, life threatening things that she went through. She actually reminded me that I was pretty much there the next day forcing her to go to the doctor. Totally had forgotten that part of the story. And it's such a beautiful story. And she's told it time and time again. She's written books. She gives talks all over the country about it. And it's definitely

Such a pleasure and a joy to have her tell the story here as well. We also talk about what it means to lose the thing you thought made you you and the painstaking choices she had to make in order to keep living both physically and emotionally. We talk about having personal agency and sovereignty in medicine as a patient and why sometimes you actually need to tell the doctor

give me a minute and the courage it takes to say that and sometimes say no to an expert who's telling you what to do. And she does such a nice job of also being that person for her patients who gives them the opportunity to say no and have that agency and sovereignty over their own journeys. With that, you'll hear about how her

physical and emotional unraveling became the seed for an entirely new kind of running medicine, founding her own running medicine clinic, creating the RunSource app, and as I mentioned, writing books and becoming a bridge between science and soul for her patients and athletes. And maybe my favorite part is you'll hear the wisdom she now passes down to her 11 year old son about listening to his body, setting boundaries and defining what enough looks like for himself.

This conversation is about running. It's about being a physical therapist. It's about being an expert at everything she does, but really it's about what happens when the thing that defines you gets stripped away. It's about the white knuckle gripping that we all keep on our identities and the freedom that can come when we finally loosen that grip. I can't wait for you to hear Kate's heart, her story and her infectious spirit. So let's dive in.

Julie Granger (03:56)

All right, hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of Sink and Swim. Today I get to sit down with one of my oldest friends, PT colleagues, PT school classmate, Kate Mihevc Edwards. I knew her when she was Mihevc Nobody can pronounce it, nope. We have walked through a lot of life together, the gritty, the gorgeous, the moments of crying on the bathroom floor, calling each other.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (04:09)

Hi, Julie. ⁓ That nobody can pronounce, Except for, yeah. Thanks for having me.

Julie Granger (04:23)

about something. Lots of laughter. I very much hope, I think we already heard it, but I hope you get to hear Kate's laugh a lot. It's actually the only reason I invited you was to have the laugh, capture it. And the identity molting moment. So I can't wait for you to hear her heart, her story, and her infectious spirit. A little bit about Kate. There's a lot we could say. But Kate.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (04:32)

That makes complete sense. I mean, I understand.

Julie Granger (04:49)

⁓ is a running medicine specialist, founder of Precision Performance Running Medicine Clinic, founder of the RunSource app. She's published multiple books. She's got a laundry list of a million amazing professional accolades, as she should. But what's really, really cool about her is her unique medicine that she brings to the table. And I've always known this about her, but now you all get to hear about it, which is she is so good at holding the science with the soul.

in one conversation and bringing that magic to all of her people. Today we're gonna talk about the day that her body changed the direction of her life. And it happened in the middle of a run, of course it did. And what rerouted after that, not only in her professional world, but in her entire identity, purpose, fabric, everything.

And we'll dig into the sometimes painstaking choice to be seen or heard, the power to create and maintain containers that keep her well and how she has sunken in and risen to swim or in her case run into who she truly is meant to be. So welcome, Kate.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (05:59)

Thanks Julie, I really appreciate it. I'm excited to spend time with you first of all because we at least get to do it once a year now. ⁓ Now that my son goes to camp down the street from you. But this is really lovely, thank you.

Julie Granger (06:04)

I

Yeah.

I know.

Yeah, I'm so glad. Yeah, I live in the land of summer camp. So for anyone listening, Kate comes and drops her son off for summer camp. And we get to hang out at least that night. And that's great, especially because we don't live in the same place anymore. So.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (06:27)

I know, which

is crazy.

Julie Granger (06:28)

All right, so take us to the moment, we're just gonna jump right to it. Take us to the moment when...

Everything changed. And obviously it wasn't exactly that moment when everything changed. So I also want to hear what happened after, the ups downs, the nitty gritty. Walk us through.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (06:40)

Yeah.

Okay.

Sure, I can do that and you were there, which is kind of crazy or part of it anyway, a lot of it, but the day after. So, okay, so we'll just start there. So yeah, we'll move on. So I was training for a half Ironman and it was my first major race after having my son. And I had done...

Julie Granger (06:51)

I was there for a good bit of it, being like...

We'll include that.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (07:07)

several marathons. think 13 is what the final count was. Several Bostons, different types of triathlon, mostly short course, and I was trying to get into the longer triathlons. And I had been training for a little while and I never really felt good.

But I was just postpartum and I thought that, okay, this is normal. So it's normal that I'm falling asleep at seven o'clock at night. It's normal that I'm completely exhausted and can't really move through my day like I normally would.

So I just kept pushing myself, which was exactly who I was and what I always did. Um, so I went out on this five mile run around my neighborhood. It was a Monday. My son had just been dropped off at school and I wasn't seeing patients that day. So I went out and I immediately didn't feel good. And the entire time I did that thing where, um, I was talking, you know, poorly to myself where I was saying, you know, what is wrong with you, Kate? You know, are you still an athlete?

Julie Granger (07:40)

Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (08:05)

Why aren't you able to push yourself the way that you normally could push yourself? So instead of listening to my body, I was pushing past all of the red flags, everything that I felt. And I did a couple of walking breaks and I was getting more angry with myself along the way. And finally, about a mile away from, not a mile, maybe half a mile from my house, I decided to push myself as hard as I could because I needed to prove to myself that I was still an athlete and I was still fast and it

matter that I just had a child. And so I did. I pushed myself as hard as I possibly could up the hill and as soon as I got in front of my house and my feet slowed down and I started to stop, it was like my heart was beating outside of my chest. My sports bra was strangling me. I started to feel dizzy and I started to feel confused. So I walked myself to the front steps. I put my head between my knees and I started to breathe. That's the only thing I needed to do.

⁓

And I was very confused. My Garmin was at 300 beats per minute and then it stopped tracking. And I thought, this stupid Garmin, it's broken. And I just sat there and I breathed. And finally, I don't know how long it was. It was maybe a minute or two. My heart rate started to calm down. I started to kind of like realize, I think maybe I'm in trouble.

Julie Granger (09:13)

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (09:25)

I should probably tell somebody. And I was walking next door to my neighbor's house. And then I all of a sudden was like, ⁓ I'm fine. And I turned around and went home. And then I proceeded on my day. I didn't tell anybody really. I didn't do anything. And then I came to work the next day. And I said, hey, Julie, you know, this thing happened yesterday and I feel kind of funny today. I'm not really sure. And she was like, my God.

We're canceling all your patients and you're going to the doctor. Let me take your heart rate. Like, let me take your blood pressure. And I'm like, it can't be that serious. Like, what? I'm marathon runner. I'm a triathlete. Like, I'm fine. And you made me go to the doctor. And that was really what started a nine to 10 month long journey of figuring out what the heck was wrong with me.

Julie Granger (09:52)

Sit down.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (10:11)

So that day I had actually gone into ventricular tachycardia and so my Garmin was not lying. My heart rate was well above where it should have been and it was skipping beats and over the next nine months, 10 months, it was really hard because...

Nobody knew what was wrong and they did test after test. Everything came back negative. They would say, OK, don't run so fast. OK, maybe don't run so far. How about we don't run at all? And it just kept being like they were taking. There was like little pieces of me that were slowly being stripped away of who I was at the core because I was a runner and I treated runners and everything I did in my life was about running and their time.

telling

me I can't do it because it's not safe. Well, I finally was diagnosed with what they used to call this ARBC, but now they call it ACM, Arithmogenic Cardiomyopathy.

It's where the little bridges in your ⁓ in your heart cells break and they scar down and they create electrical issues so that's why I was in B-tach in your heart and and eventually if you continue and it continues happening the heart muscle will get floppy and then the heart you'll go into heart failure and it's a progressive genetic disease and So when I was diagnosed they were like, okay, you're done You're done with all of the things that you love to do and so it was a crazy

time because it was like this one thing that I used, the only thing I knew to manage my stress and my emotional state was being ripped out from underneath me and the person that I was was being taken away.

I had built this identity of being a runner and now I couldn't be one anymore. And so it was a crisis. It was an identity crisis. was a moment of who am I in this world and what am I doing? And all this time, I mean, my son was one. It was his first birthday the day I went into BTAC. And so he's also already struggling with how to be a mom and what does my relationship look like? And there were so many different things going on at that time. And yeah.

It was a lot.

Julie Granger (12:15)

I just want to come back to the discounting that was going on in order to cling to this identity as an athlete, like pushing past your body's red flags, you said, instead of listening. And I just want to highlight the irony that I say this to women in health care all the time, because I did the same thing, is we're helping other people learn how to do that. And yet, they always say people in health care are the worst patients, but it's true, right?

Kate Mihevc Edwards (12:33)

Yeah.

god.

Julie Granger (12:40)

the part of even saying the garment must be broken. You have data.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (12:45)

yeah, but it couldn't possibly be right. Yeah. Yeah.

Julie Granger (12:47)

But I so just see,

like, the Garmin saying, like, it obviously took years of figuring out this was an identity threat, right? But in that moment, that was still very alive. And, like, the way you were wired was nothing will get in the way of this, not even my Garmin telling me, not even Julie saying, to the doctor. Like, I was like, I'm going to go call your patients myself.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (13:09)

Right, I mean, none of it.

Julie Granger (13:14)

and cancel them. ⁓

Kate Mihevc Edwards (13:15)

You did, you actually walked up, I remember sitting on the plinth, I always want, like, I hate that word, by the way, plinth, like, why is this called a plinth? Okay, but whatever, this is a side note. So I'm sitting there, you had just taken my blood pressure, you know, my heart rate at that point was like 38 because I was training all the time. And like, you're like, what?

Julie Granger (13:23)

Great, yeah, with you, great.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (13:36)

just stay here. And I remember you leaving me there and going to cancel my patients and sitting there thinking like, what is wrong with her? Why does she think I have to cancel my patients? Right? Like I have to go to work. Like I have a job to do. There's patients waiting for me. And you were like, no.

Julie Granger (13:45)

Does she hate me?

Kate Mihevc Edwards (13:53)

Thank God, because I don't think I would have gone to the doctor. And that's the craziest part, right? I don't think I would have.

Julie Granger (13:56)

Don't be an idiot. ⁓

No, and I mean, it was so hard. You said it was like however many months, eight to 12, of actually trying to figure out. Just watching that happen was so frustrating too. Like as an onlooker and a friend and a colleague and someone who is in medicine too, because it was like, guys, stop telling her there's nothing wrong.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (14:10)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Right. Well, and I think...

Sorry, the backstory is, you I had passed out in three marathons previously, like, you know, years past, and I had gone to two cardiologists, maybe three cardiologists before this whole incident, and they had cleared me. And so I really thought I was fine because I'd done the right things. I had been cleared several times, and they just kept telling me I was dehydrated, and I was like, I'm not dehydrated, but okay. And then I was like, cool, I'm dehydrated. I can keep pushing my body.

Julie Granger (14:25)

Yeah.

You're dehydrated. Just drink some water and get some electrolytes. It's the answer to everything.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (14:49)

Just drink some water. Totally.

Julie Granger (14:53)

I also love this part about the little pieces of me slowly being stripped away. I remember you calling me one time sobbing when someone told you you couldn't run. I remember where I was. I was driving down 85 South through Atlanta on a bridge, like up over the interstate. I just remember. And I was like, God, someone told you that? Like, I just knew how much weight that carried.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (15:04)

you

Yeah, like really. Yeah.

Julie Granger (15:18)

And honestly, I didn't know what to say. It was like, OK, let's just breathe. Start there. And maybe drink some water and get some electrolytes.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (15:22)

Yeah, totally.

Well, you know,

it's it I still like I just started to tear up thinking about it like that I remember Because what happened was they kept testing me for things and so what would happen is I would be things would be negative and they'd be like, oh We cleared the scariest things out. So like I had hope that it was something else and then we did

Julie Granger (15:41)

Hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (15:53)

an ablation and I felt a ton better. And then I had hope that it was something else. And every time I had that hope, and then when the last piece, I remember sitting in the office and he had repeated a couple of tests and he said, my doctor said, I am really sorry, Kate. Like we had ruled this out already.

but we did this test again because it didn't make sense and this time we saw X, Y, Z. And he's like, you're done. Like you have to make a decision at this point. And then he started talking about putting in a defibrillator and like, I don't know if you remember this exactly, but they told me that I needed like a defibrillator, you know, the next week. And I said, no, and I left the country. I left because I was so

fed up with people telling me what I needed to do with my body and not really, like the physician I was talking to was incredible. Like he ended up being incredible and both of my cardiologists were incredible, but they still didn't understand that I needed to have some agency over myself. I couldn't make that decision in the office at that moment. And I'll be,

Julie Granger (16:42)

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (17:03)

I don't know if I didn't have a one year old. I don't know if I would have listened. I mean now this Kate would have totally listened. That Kate, I don't know if she would have if she didn't have a child. And so I left the country, I went to Mexico and then I came back and I was ready. But I needed to make that decision on my own terms.

Julie Granger (17:11)

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Wow, I I think that what you just said speaks so much to, it's like you were going through this identity unraveling, right? Or re-raveling, you know, it's like actually grasping who the real you was. And that to me feels like one of those moments where that was actually the real you saying, mm-mm, give me a minute, you know? And...

I'm gonna make this with agency not because you told me I have to.

Yeah, may we all have permission to, know, it's surgery, it's chemotherapy, it's something that someone telling you you need to do and make a decision on right now. I mean, as long as it's not you're bleeding out and it's trauma and yes, you need to make the decision right this second, may we all have that courage to say to someone, give me a minute or a week in Mexico, whatever it needs to be. No problem.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (18:07)

Yeah.

where there's no healthcare and if anything happens you're gone.

My doctor, I think my doctor almost had a heart attack himself when I was like, I am leaving the country and going to Mexico nonetheless.

Julie Granger (18:23)

It's fine. What could go wrong? Nothing went wrong. yeah. So you ended up getting the right diagnosis, and they told you at the time. There's a plot twist, but they told you at the time you were done running. And that was devastating, obviously. And I feel like the other great irony in it is you had

Kate Mihevc Edwards (18:23)

It's fine. Nothing, no. It was totally fine. Right? It was good.

Yeah.

Julie Granger (18:45)

Had you started precision yet? I can't remember the timeline. No, right, because we were both, okay, yep, right. Yeah.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (18:48)

No, I, yeah, remember we were working together and then I

was like, I remember I was so stressed and the place that we worked was very stressful. And I know you've talked about that before and I've talked about that.

Julie Granger (19:02)

rate.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (19:05)

the environment, even though there were so many amazing people there. Like I do want to say, like I loved everybody that worked there. I really did. But the environment was super competitive. was, you know, eat what you kill. It was like high stakes all the time. And my schedule was, I had a waiting list that was so long because I treated runners and people heard, you know, about that. And my waiting list was so long and there was so much pressure that I was

Julie Granger (19:12)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (19:32)

crumbling because I was trying to manage that and that environment while managing what was like the explosion that was my life. And so I remember I was treating a patient and she was a massage therapist and she's like, you know, do you want to like leave here and treat somewhere else? And I'm like, what? No. And it was such a she's like, okay.

Julie Granger (19:42)

Yeah.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (19:59)

Okay, are you sure? Like, I'm like, yes, don't talk to me about this again. Like I felt like, you know, so then I think like a few months later, she's like, Hey, I'm, you know, I have all this space now. I'm opening the space with my friend, my business partner who, which we could talk about who this business partner was really funny later, but she was like, I really think you know, this would be a good fit. So it's like she knew I needed to leave.

I didn't know. And then finally, I went home one day, and I'm in the backyard throwing the ball with the dog, with Austin, and Brian comes home, and I said, you know, I think I'm gonna quit my job next week.

I remember because he's like in his dress, like his work clothes, like button up shirt, all the things, and he's looking at me and he doesn't know what to say. So he leaves, he goes in the side and grabs a beer, which is really funny because that's not like he would, that's not him, you know. So he grabs a beer and he comes back out. says, okay, so we're quitting our job. What is the plan?

Julie Granger (20:44)

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Okay, all right, so I wanna highlight, circle back to the great irony is you were having running stripped from you while trying to help other runners keep running from getting stripped from them. And the job itself, like the container of that job you were clinging to.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (21:15)

completely.

Julie Granger (21:23)

Could we, is it fair to say because of that last piece of identity, which was helping runners? You know what mean? Like at the time it felt like that was the only place to do that.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (21:34)

I think it was more fear, to be honest with you. I think it was fear of, hadn't actually thought about owning my own practice before. And I hadn't actually, like my plan before everything happened was to just be the best person at treating runners there or somewhere like it. Like I never, I guess it.

Julie Granger (21:36)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (21:54)

If I really think about it, like who I am as a person at Network would have worked. I was always going to start my own place, but I just didn't know that about myself at that time. And I think that everything that happened showed me that that's exactly what I needed to do. So it wasn't that I was clinging to trade runners because I knew I was still going to trade runners, but I just wasn't ready. I was afraid to do something that felt really scary.

Julie Granger (22:18)

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Well, it hadn't incorporated into your identity yet that a business owner, founder. Yeah, it was always there, but you hadn't unraveled down to that piece yet. I resonate with that. I'm the same way. I was in my mind. There's so many people that would say, you know what? I think that you would make a really great entrepreneur. And I'd be like, me? You're talking to me?

Kate Mihevc Edwards (22:22)

Right.

No, not at all.

Julie Granger (22:40)

Is there someone behind me that you're talking to? Like, Yeah.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (22:42)

Yeah, I know. I never

ever thought about it. And then it was so obvious once it happened.

Julie Granger (22:49)

Right, right. We were just talking before we came on about the beautiful freedom that comes with setting your schedule and all these things and how this is so entrepreneurial. I mean, we both work on appointments and have clients that we work with, and that's great, and we love them. And there's a part of having appointments and things scheduled that's like, get off me.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (22:50)

as all things are.

Yeah, like, I just want to do what I do and be creative in my mind and like, like decide where I'm going to show up in an hour.

Julie Granger (23:17)

Right, I just want it to be spur of the moment. And I think it comes down to, really, you don't want anyone else to tell you when and where and how to be yourself or to show up. Yeah.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (23:30)

I

know it's such a it is it's like you just want to be doing your thing and I love treating patients I do love treating patients and I love you know I also do consulting actually right before this I was on like this really cool consulting call which will Like kind of roll into the medicine piece later and so I do that and I love it and then I also love the time where I have nothing on the schedule so I can just create

Julie Granger (23:45)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, white space is the new wealthy. I say that a lot. Yeah. Although I was just telling a mentor I work with that sometimes I reach the point where there's too much white space and I'm like, I need some appointments. I need some structure. I need like a little bit of, I call it the fence around the dog park. Like I need this fence and container and then I can run free and be all flowy and whatnot.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (23:57)

It's true. my God, yes.

Julie Granger (24:19)

If I don't have quite enough of that, I almost, it's almost worse.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (24:24)

So I don't have enough of that white space time for sure. I think I've, yeah, I I wouldn't say I don't have enough, but mean, it's not too much because I truly do have, even though I have patients and clients, but I also have the app and then I do research and then I'm on podcasts or whatever it is. So I always have something every single day on the schedule.

Julie Granger (24:28)

You don't have enough.

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (24:48)

besides the blocks of time doing the tasks. But I'm always like, I don't think there's a single day. Well, that's not true. Sometimes Fridays, I don't have appointments, but it's very few and far between.

Julie Granger (25:01)

But that would feel different, I think, if you've got something every day than having a whole day of nothing is so luxurious.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (25:08)

Yes, exactly. Yeah, I know. Right, there's that. P.S., my God. And so, they're even harder than my child. I mean, those, have Y-Mariners, as you know, and my God.

Julie Granger (25:10)

Amazing.

Well, and then you also have a child, you know, there's that and dog, dogs.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (25:25)

Like last night, I was up at 430 because my dog, Gus, he eats everything. He ate one of my socks and then he threw it up in the crate at 430. And Brian is out of town right now and like the roof is being fixed at my house. So it's like loudest, like it is a disaster at my house right now. And that dog, those dogs, they like just put me over the edge sometimes, but they're so loving.

They're so snuggly. They're my favorite at the same time. mean my Andy is so easy like really as a child Andrew is like so easy The only thing that's not so easy now is so he has the gene for my heart disease Which we've talked about in the past and that was one of the most Devastating pieces of my diagnosis was that he had the gene So it doesn't mean he has the disease and typically the disease, you know, it shows up in their 30s But he's been followed since he was a baby by a cardiologist

Julie Granger (25:48)

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (26:17)

this year, the research is showing that maybe he can do a little bit of sports. And so for the first time, I've put him in, he's wanted to play soccer forever, which of course is like the worst one because it's running, but so much running. So I'm completely stressed out. And I have ⁓ an AED that I bring and everybody on the team knows. I'm like, have to, who knows CPR, like the whole thing.

Julie Granger (26:29)

So much running. Sprinting.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (26:41)

The reality of something happening is very low, but you have to be prepared.

I did not think he would make a club team because he's never been on a team really before. So he said, can I try out? I'm like, yeah, try out, kid, that's fine. He made the team. And so I didn't know what that meant. And to all those soccer moms out there, holy crap, you're amazing. Because I had a meltdown the first tournament weekend. I started crying in the car and telling Brian I couldn't do this. This couldn't be my life. And my sweet child.

Julie Granger (27:01)

you

Kate Mihevc Edwards (27:11)

said, you know what, mom, it's okay. You're a good mommy. He said, you don't have to come to everything. He's like, I just want to play. He said, it's okay if you're not here. And, and so I'm not going to go to every game, but he's totally cool with it. And we have an understanding. I don't even know how we got there. It's just like my major stress point is this soccer right now, because it's like emotionally hard.

And the fear is definitely there, even though we have a plan. But also, I crave alone time and downtime and quiet. And that's the opposite of the soccer field.

Julie Granger (27:43)

That is not it. That is not the place if you're an introvert. Mm-mm. Nope. Small talk. Mm-mm. Screaming. No. Loud noises. People. Plus the added, it's like you're never going to be able to not be a little stressed. I mean, you're bringing an AED with you. Like, your little first responder brain is never going to turn off. Plus, mom, you know? Plus, you've experienced it. So there's like so many layers of trauma there that

Kate Mihevc Edwards (27:51)

Yes.

Totally.

Julie Granger (28:09)

Good job, all I have to say is good job with saying maybe this isn't for me.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (28:14)

Well, the meltdown

was real. mean, like I was sitting in the car crying and now it's funny. But Brian just looks at me, says, I think, cause it was in between two games. I didn't know there was going to be a second game cause they won. thought we were going home. We were not going home. And so he drove me home. He drove me an hour and a half home cause the game was four hours away. Like we had four hours in between games. He drove me home and drove back with Andy because I was having such a meltdown. You gotta love that man.

Julie Granger (28:35)

in between.

Brian, good old Brian. ⁓ Well, what I love about it too is it's, so many people would push through that because you're a mom, you should be there. Like speaking of identity and this is my identity I'm clinging to, here's such a beautiful like 180 of now Kate who's like, yeah, I could probably suck it up and make it happen and push through and not listen to you.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (28:44)

Yeah.

Julie Granger (29:09)

my body or my emotions or whatever out of obligation or this idea that this is what a good mom is. But why? For what? Is that a good mom? know, pushing through?

Kate Mihevc Edwards (29:17)

Thanks, no.

Yeah. Well.

Julie Granger (29:21)

It depends, you know, who you ask, probably.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (29:23)

Yeah, I think so. And honestly, I said, Andy is like a 55 year old in an 11 year old's body. So this kid does not care. Like I am so grateful for all the things I've learned through this process because we have taught him what I've been learning, what Brian's been learning about emotional intelligence, about taking care of yourself. Like another example is, you know, he wants to be really good at soccer. So they offer private soccer lessons on Fridays. It's like a hundred bucks. It's like not a big deal.

And so I was like, Ganny, do you want to do the lessons? And he said, nah, I think that'd be a little overwhelming. I'm already committed to Tuesdays and Thursdays practice, which I'm getting better every time I go. And I play on the weekend. He's like, it's too much for me, and I don't want to do it. I'm like, OK, then I will never ask you again.

Julie Granger (30:12)

And to think this kid was born from someone who said the Garmin was broken. Who once said that. You don't say it anymore.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (30:19)

I know, right. Yeah,

so it's pretty incredible in that loop and everything I've learned we've been able to teach, which is also beautiful, is that you think about how would I have raised this child if not how?

Julie Granger (30:29)

Yeah, that's really beautiful.

Truly. Truly.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (30:34)

Push it, come

on. You can do it. Your legs only broken.

Julie Granger (30:38)

Okay, well, so many beautiful lessons.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (30:41)

November, yeah, it'll be our 10 year anniversary this year.

Julie Granger (30:43)

I about to say November. Why do I know this? obviously it wasn't a linear path, even with precision. You've written books. You speak all the time. You've founded the Runsource app, which is now in version two. Walk us through not every detail, but the ups, the downs, the lessons learned, the...

things that brought each thing to life, the parts of you.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (31:07)

Yeah, so like I said, I never imagined owning a clinic and then I did. So it started out in a room. I was just treating outside of a room or in a room. And then I also taught classes at Emory as adjunct faculty. And one of my students asked me if I would be his mentor because he wanted to do an orthopedic residency and you have to have someone that went through an orthopedic residency to be your mentor. And I did. And I was one of the only ones in Atlanta at the time. And so I was like, okay. And then I was like,

⁓ if I have a PT, new grad who's now my resident, that means I need to have a room for him to treat in. And so I was like, huh, I guess I need to actually get an office. And so it's funny because there was a small office next to the big office I was sharing space with, and I just knocked a wall down, took a couple of rooms, and that became precision. It was this really small, like two rooms to treat in, like a laundry room.

slash treadmill room and then it had like a loft upstairs with all the exercise and then we shared the bathroom and kitchen with the other suite and so we started there and I thought okay this will be fine I'll just treat here for a little while and no big deal but then we kept getting busier and then I don't I think it was around COVID actually so probably five years ago

Julie Granger (32:09)

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (32:26)

the people that were in the big suite, couldn't afford to keep it anymore. And so I was growing.

Julie Granger (32:30)

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (32:32)

I kind of wanted a different space and they asked me if I would take it over and it was really scary because it was huge, 10,000 or some ridiculous, I don't know how many square feet, I'm so bad with that kind of stuff, but it really big. And I'm like, I don't know if this is a good idea. then I was like, ⁓ okay, I'll do it. It was one of those things, so it was a knowing that I needed to do it, so I did. So I got rid of this suite, I put the wall back up and I took the big suite and then I'm like, ⁓

Julie Granger (32:43)

Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

You

Kate Mihevc Edwards (33:00)

I guess I'll hire some more people. So it's just kind of like, and my second hire, like Casey, don't remember.

She was there with other people, but she's been there the longest now. She's been with me for like six years. So I can't remember the timeline, know, the timeline's kind of funny, but so she's like, yeah, let's do this. So, and then it just kind of kept growing. And, and as we kept growing, I'm always, I was still involved in the running community and, and still teaching and still doing things. And then we started, we were involved with Atlanta Track Club a little bit more, and then they were developing this multidisciplinary

Julie Granger (33:09)

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (33:36)

And they'd asked me, they wanted us to be PT's with them for a while, but...

there wasn't someone there that was really having the conversation with us about what that looked like because we're out of network cash practice. And so that's very different in terms of price and all this stuff. Finally, Eric came to the track club and he and I were friends and we talked and I was like, look, we'll do it. We just have to figure out the details. And so we figured out the details and then we became the official PT providers for the Atlanta Track Club elites. then Dr. Sarah Riser is a friend of mine. She is a running medicine physician.

came from Stanford to Emory and then she was part of, Emory was working with the track club so Sarah was like, well I can't do it without Kate. And so we started and then so, and then we started to form this multidisciplinary team. So now there's like a sports dietician, a sports psychologist, both who I helped interview like.

coach, director of high performance. There's a chiropractor, my PT team, couple of physicians. And so now we all work together on regular basis. so that happened and that was like four and a half years ago. And then of course, we just kept getting busier. And during this time, when this multidisciplinary team formed, I, you know, we looked at our athletes and the athletes are, you know, pretty injured and things not just not because anyone is doing anything necessarily wrong, but there's just things that were getting missed and we didn't. So then we started

Julie Granger (34:54)

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (34:55)

bringing this multidisciplinary team in and everyone started getting better. working, shockingly enough, working together helps your athletes. And so I started to notice this and I thought, well, you know what, this is how I practice at my running medicine clinic. I'm always referring and sharing. But like most people don't know that this is a thing.

And I was like, oh crap, I'm gonna have to make something. I'm gonna have to solve this problem for people. Crap, okay, what am I gonna do? So then I started talking to all my running medicine friends across the country about what is their solution, there's no solution, blah, blah. So I'm like.

All right, I'll make this app. So I made the RunSource app and the first version, version two actually comes out like soon. It's like this month or something, I don't know, whenever the developer decides to let it go. But version one was like, there's over 50 running medicine specialists across the country from all these different backgrounds, nutrition, yoga.

Julie Granger (35:42)

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (35:54)

sports psychology, PT's, MD's, everything. And I basically ask them to just dump their knowledge. Like make short videos about all these things that I specifically ask.

and put them in one place so that people could access the tools that they needed. I created running injury programs, like there were multidisciplinary, not just PT's, they have strength, but then they also have nutrition pieces. And anyway, so I did all this for the RunSource app. So that's how that started, is because of the multidisciplinary team at the track club. And I recognized how much quicker people were getting better.

Julie Granger (36:16)

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (36:27)

And just it was a better environment. So I created that and it's been on version one for a while. It's not like that pretty. The app is really not that pretty and it's kind of like clunky, but this version two is fixing all that. And it actually has an AI agent that is me. I created it in a closed container. It's super freaky. So like basically all of, no, it's like super freaky, right? So it's like, I created this closed container. I put all the research articles I've ever read.

Julie Granger (36:45)

God.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (36:53)

which I keep them all, which is so nerdy. It's like 500, like there were over 500 running articles, of course. And then like it, I, and then I took all my clinical reasoning patterns and I wrote them all out and I've dumped that in and like it's just all this stuff. So you can ask it questions and it only, and it'll tell you, it doesn't know if it doesn't know. And it'll pull from anything on the website or on the app, including other.

Julie Granger (36:59)

course.

Wow.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (37:16)

of the multidisciplinary experts. And so then it'll tell you where the information came from, whether it's a research article or one of the videos or whatever. And then it even is a bit sassy like me. So it'll say like, if you ask the same question over and over.

They'll say, you should probably go to a doctor or you should probably talk to somebody. And then eventually it'll say, dude, like go to the doctor, like stop asking this question because you have to see somebody. So anyway, it's really funny. So, so that's kind of how that happened. But in between, you know, when you start doing, when you're something that you love and you're, you know, pretty good at it, people start asking you to speak about it. And I didn't anticipate being a speaker, although,

Julie Granger (37:33)

Talk to someone.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (37:59)

In undergrad, I took speaking classes, which is really funny. I hated them. They were the worst. Like, I hated them. I never wanted to do them, but I did take them. So it's funny. Maybe my intuition knew. And so I...

I just started speaking at things and now I love it. Like I fly all over, speak, people pay me to come speak to teams. And so that just kind of started happening. And then with the books, like I wrote one book to kind of explain my story and that was really just to help me work through it.

Julie Granger (38:18)

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (38:28)

⁓ But I get calls about it all the time. People who have what I have reach out and I talk to them. do some counseling, ⁓ you know, talking with the cardiologist, so hook us up and ask, can you speak to this person because they're going through what you're going through. And so I do. And then the second book, the one about returning to running postpartum, I wrote because again, like nobody was talking about it at the time and nobody, when I wanted to run postpartum, I didn't know what to do. Everyone told me it was

Julie Granger (38:40)

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (38:57)

So I wrote a book about it with with my colleague Blair who's a public health therapist. And so I think that the the thing is I Just kept seeing things like any good entrepreneur When someone is not when there is a need that needs to be filled around something that I have a lot of knowledge about I just start to fill it

Julie Granger (38:59)

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (39:15)

And that's kind of what I'm doing. And I'm currently doing some research about beliefs, knowledge, attitudes. Beliefs, perception, and attitudes of runners. And that paper will probably come out, I don't know, this year. But I did it with a couple people from different universities in the Northeast. And ⁓ we're looking at it because of the disconnect between really what runners believe and know

Julie Granger (39:25)

Mmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (39:41)

and what healthcare providers believe in know, and there's like no bridge in between. And so it's this missing piece of like, how do we communicate back and forth? And, know, in terms of what I do, that's I'm often the bridge. Yeah.

Julie Granger (39:54)

Yeah. Well, you mentioned your intuition. And I love this piece of you just filling holes. there's a hole. I'm going to fill it. ⁓ there's a hole. The serial entrepreneur who once never thought she'd be one. And now it's like, it keeps going. All these little enterprises. But I think that there is an element of you that you uncovered in the process of

Kate Mihevc Edwards (40:01)

There's a hole.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Julie Granger (40:17)

we could call it identity or not, but like the essence of you, that is you have 500 research articles that date back to 2006. And or this intuitive knowing that just shows up. And I think that's the magic of your medicine, which is like, yeah, we can talk science all day and I'm here for it.

But now even like your scientific research is looking at the intangibles, the beliefs, knowledge, perception, and attitude. I feel like the hashtag for that article is if you know, know. Where you're like, yeah, runners have this way of orienting towards the world and themselves. And then the medical world has this way. And they don't always mesh. And you created an app for that. But also,

Kate Mihevc Edwards (40:52)

Yeah, that's great. Yeah.

and

Julie Granger (41:06)

You also have to educate the people in the medical world.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (41:09)

Yeah, it's true. so actually I have a podcast coming out September 5th. It's called Interdisciplinary Case Miles and it's with a sports dietitian and a running medicine physician.

And it's the same kind of idea is we're working together and we're talking about difficult cases and we talk about those things. We talk about how important stress is, how important beliefs are, how important all of these things are. And I think that it does come back to the fact like I was a patient and I did not feel heard in a lot of ways and there was, I was tossed around and nobody knew and there was this fear and like what is wrong with me? like my best work is definitely helping people who

her in it, who have been told they don't know what's wrong, who have seen so many physicians and PTs and providers and feel lost and hopeless and frustrated. I mean, that's what I do, like consulting. So like I had a case today of an athlete who has a stress reaction in the femur and that athlete, she's incredible and she just wants answers. And the truth is, like,

The medical system doesn't allow you the time to sit down and sift through everything and sit with the person instead of with the injury. And so this person is not a femur stress.

Julie Granger (42:24)

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (42:27)

This person is a mom and an athlete and all of these other things and we need to recognize that as healthcare providers and my story has allowed me to see it and work through all of those things and and you know my research and my podcast and all the things that's what it does, but ultimately it's about

you know, looking and seeing what's going on with these people. And a lot of times it's so much more than just the injury. Not a lot of times, every time it is. And if we don't address it and think about it, then we're missing the point.

Julie Granger (42:55)

course.

Well, it dates all the way back to, mean, there's so much in your story around, well, that test was negative, so there's nothing wrong with you. And that test is negative, so there's nothing wrong with you. Meanwhile, you are disintegrating emotionally and identity-wise. And there is this person behind all of the negative tests, which actually weren't negative when we found out later. There actually was something there. And nobody's looking at that person.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (43:18)

Yeah.

Julie Granger (43:24)

and going, how might this bomb feel when it drops on her? And I say, don't run. Maybe just don't run as much. That's huge. I mean, still remember I'm also writing a book about swimming. And that's the center of the book. It's the name of this podcast. it's like, yeah, I eventually learned the lesson that I needed to sink in order to rise.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (43:29)

paint.

Yeah.

Julie Granger (43:48)

At the time, it was just keep swimming at all costs because of identity, because that was my purpose, because that was everything. That was my people. And I think that you're right, the medical world, real good at the science, less good at the art and the intuitive side. I'm like, you're a case with the mom who has a stress reaction, who's a runner. And a femur, by the way, that's like devastating.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (43:55)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah,

yeah, it is.

Julie Granger (44:15)

That's not a fuck around and find out kind of injury. I mean, it was. That's what got her there. But that's one that needs to be handled with so much care because there's so much that goes into why it got there.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (44:20)

Right.

Well, and understanding and explaining, like taking, so part of what I do with my clients is like, we get a Google folder, right? And I put in, I actually even put in the research. Like, so, you know, a lot of what I do is, you know, it is intuitive. It is like, I feel like this person might need this. And it's experience, but it's also knowing. And it's science, but it's also listening. And it's all of that.

Julie Granger (44:38)

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (44:52)

It's like, I loved how you said, I think the science and the soul, putting the science and the soul together, because that's exactly what it is. you know, so I write out a lot of things like, hey, this is where you are. This is what the research says. This is why we're doing this. I want you to really understand. And it's things that are never explained to patients, but it's the basic things that each of us as a human want to know.

Julie Granger (44:56)

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (45:16)

and creating a plan, like letting someone have a plan and explaining the reasoning behind the plan. And my plans all have a column in it that's like, what are you doing for yourself? What is your stress management? What is like, and it's always like, here are five things you can do to take care of yourself that are not physical, you know, because all of that is so important.

Julie Granger (45:38)

Well, you had to learn that. I just remember, like, even when you first got your defibrillator, you know, and you're going to yoga and it goes off in the middle of class, I get the phone call about that one too, and you're trying to figure out what to do with yourself from such a good place. Like, it's actually a valid question and that's not running and it's not physical because your whole purpose was physical.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (45:40)

Yeah.

my god. Yeah.

Julie Granger (46:05)

physical therapy. mean, it's all, it's so easy for it to become all about function, movement, physicality, performance, like measurable things, tangible things. And this soul part is so much bigger and more expansive and it just gets overlooked or it gets locked into you have a psychological problem. Not there's anything wrong with that, but it's sort of like,

Kate Mihevc Edwards (46:06)

Yeah.

Yeah, for sure.

Julie Granger (46:31)

behind a closed door and we pathologize it and make it its own little thing instead of weaving it and integrating it all together.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (46:33)

Yes.

That's right.

One of the sports, not diatomaceous sports psychologists that I work with that I love so much always says that mental health is a continuum. And so we're all on it somewhere at some point and it moves. And to think about that as I think it's really powerful way to think about mental health because yeah, we all have it. We all have mental health, but there's this whole stigma about, you know, what is, this person has mental health issues, you know, but that's not true. We all live on that continuum. Right. And so at some

Julie Granger (46:47)

Mm.

Who doesn't? Yeah, right.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (47:08)

point we're going to have challenges and making that part of you know who you know part of our care is important and I do refer to mental health professionals all the time because you know that's their lane but you know we have to still talk about it and we still have to address it.

Julie Granger (47:23)

Yeah, I love so many people I've interviewed on this podcast or in healthcare for so many good reasons. And we've got one lane of people who are sort of the healthcare, I don't wanna say rejects, but graduates, like no longer practicing. Graduates is a much nicer word. ⁓ I love that you're still in it and bridging, creating this bridge because a lot of people, myself included, have graduated.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (47:35)

Yeah.

Yep.

Julie Granger (47:49)

And it's like, well, I'm still helping women in health care to do this, this exact thing, which is like, can you bridge the soul and the science? Can you bring in that part of you that is there? Can you maybe not be the mental health provider for this client, but can you start the conversation or keep the conversation going or check in on them with knowledge, expertise, care, attunement? I think that sometimes in health care we're so

Kate Mihevc Edwards (48:09)

Yeah.

Julie Granger (48:17)

siloed and scared to, I can't go in that lane because that's not my lane. And if I talk about it, then I'm not in scope. if I take this course that is about mental health, then I'm out of scope. But it's never trying to be in someone else's lane. It's just creating that integrative bridge. Yeah.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (48:32)

Thank

It's integration

and that's what it is. you know, for years, I chiropractors do PT exercises. It's the same, you know what I mean? it's, you know, as long as you're doing what's in the best practice for the patient or the client, whatever you want to say, and you know your limitations and you're relying on both science and being human, like they are a human and you're asking for help and you're

Julie Granger (48:54)

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (48:58)

referring when you need to refer, you know, it's, I think it's fine. Like this is how healthcare should be. Like the way, I mean, you know, I really believe the way I practice healthcare and the way that my team practices healthcare is the way that it needs to be because it doesn't, it's like a safety net. It's, it's like a, when people are falling, they need to be caught. And then

Julie Granger (49:16)

Hmm.

They need to be caught.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (49:22)

you and then listen. You have to listen and they will tell you what is wrong if you just listen and that's it.

Julie Granger (49:33)

Yeah. And I love that we can't predict when someone's going to be falling just because the thing on the calendar says physical therapy. They might be falling, and we might need to be that safety net for them that day or that week or for a month. Maybe there's a wait list with the best mental health care provider, and maybe they need someone to talk to. Be a human. Human to human first. That's so important. Yeah.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (49:37)

No.

Yeah.

Be a human.

Yeah, that's exactly

it. it's, yeah, I feel pretty honored that, you know, I don't see a ton of patients like we talked about. I haven't graduated, but boy, it's funny because someone recently asked me if I was retired and I laughed so hard because it's like, if this is retired, I am in trouble. ⁓ Because I don't work on like a typical schedule, you know, and it was really funny actually. So it's actually the joke in my town that Kate's retired, but why is she always blind to speak and do all these things, you know?

Julie Granger (50:14)

Yeah, right.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (50:26)

But anyway, I think it's a privilege to still be able to see people. And I do see a handful of people every week. Sometimes it's the virtual consulting and sometimes it's in person. But I don't overdo it either because I really want to give my all to those people. And I really believe that if I was only in a room treating patients every day, I couldn't make the impact that I needed to, need to make on the world.

Julie Granger (50:31)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (50:50)

Like a

lot of time is spent for me teaching others how to do what I do. It's about getting the information out there, whether it's that research article or it's sitting on a podcast talking about difficult cases that have come across and what has been missed and how we can do better, that new podcast I'm doing. I all of those things help to get this out there further. So I can't just see patients, but I do like it.

Julie Granger (51:15)

Yeah. Well, you talked about this retirement lifestyle, which it very much is not, obviously. But I think that it's an important piece that was also born from that original moment on the plinth.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (51:18)

yeah.

I that you said that word again.

Julie Granger (51:33)

I also hate when people call it a bed. I hope you don't, but it's a table.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (51:35)

God, it's a table.

It is a table in the bed, laid out on the bed, laid out on the plinth. yeah, it's a treatment table. ⁓

Julie Granger (51:41)

I'm like, ew, no, it's not a bed. That feels inappropriate. But you

have like completely reinvented, mean, that person who identified as athlete still has the athlete. I mean, look at, there's a problem, I'm gonna fix it. Like still has that energy in her. And yet there's also this full embrace, full aliveness in the white space, in the...

creating boundaries and building a life that allows you to be full throttle in all of your empires that you're pursuing, but also not full throttle. So tell us about your retirement life that isn't really one.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (52:28)

I know

I just sit around drinking coffee. Yeah, no. So what really came out of it was that I need to take care of myself before I take care of others. It sounds so easy, but it is the hardest thing to do. And, you know, I'm not great at it sometimes still because I'm human, but in general, my mornings, like I don't see patients, if I'm going to see a patient that day, I don't really see them before 10 or maybe even sometimes 11 o'clock.

Julie Granger (52:30)

Mm. Right.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (52:53)

because I'm not a morning person. I'm not a morning person. I don't want to get up in the morning when I was a runner, like a hardcore runner. I would get up at five in the morning and then I'd be mad every day, even though I loved running. Yeah, I'd be like, I can't believe I got up at five to run. I loved running. I hate five o'clock in the morning. You know, was like this, it was this like, I kept fighting myself to do the things that I thought I had to do. And I don't, I don't do that anymore. So I rarely set an alarm.

Julie Granger (53:03)

God, how?

Kate Mihevc Edwards (53:19)

My husband is really great about the mornings with Andy. ⁓ I love to walk my son to the bus, but if I don't wake up in time, Ryan does it. ⁓ So I don't set an alarm because it stresses me out. ⁓ I mean, there are occasions that I will, of course, but I get up, I walk Andy to the bus, I maybe walk the dogs, I go to the gym, I meditate.

Julie Granger (53:27)

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (53:39)

I drink my cup of coffee, I might read or journal, and then I start my day. And then I answer emails or I go on a podcast or I work on the app or I see a patient or I work on an article I'm writing for a magazine, whatever it is. But I take that time in the morning for myself. And you know what I found is even though I can work for 12 hours because I love what I do and sometimes I get distracted. when Andy was at camp,

Julie Granger (53:44)

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (54:07)

I'd be like, wait, what time? Shoot, it's eight o'clock at night and I've worked all day, right? It's okay because I love it. But also I get more done in a shorter period of time because I've taken care of myself first and I'm not dragging and wishing I had done something else. Like I really get to be in it and loving what I'm doing because I've taken care of myself.

Julie Granger (54:09)

Same. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Right.

You're right that it's so much easier said than done. It almost sounds like something that's like stitched, like cross-stitched on a pillow. You know, like it's kind of this little cliche, take care of yourself before others. But you're living it. Like it's really, like literally your day is you first. I do the same if you're gonna see me before 10 a.m. and it's an emergency or I'm getting on a plane. That's it. You know, like.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (54:34)

Cheers.

Julie Granger (54:58)

Maybe not even getting on a plane. I don't schedule flights usually early unless I have to. Yeah.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (55:01)

my god, me neither. I had to like two weeks ago when I went to running camp and I really was like what did I do to myself? And Brian hates it because he likes early flights but I usually take that midday flight.

Julie Granger (55:16)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. With

you on that. But for better or worse, you learned the hard way, that lesson. I learned the hard way, that lesson. We haven't even mentioned we were literally both going through the life turned upside down at the same time.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (55:26)

the same time. We

were treating next to each other in our like we were we were like dying both of us were literally dying next to each other and living. Yeah.

Julie Granger (55:32)

Like dying. Literally.

I'm living,

somehow scraping by. Yep. You never sat me down and told me to cancel my patients. I played it off well.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (55:46)

I did not ever do that.

No, but I do recall a few times I sat your butt down.

Julie Granger (55:52)

I remember when you

said, this moment is burned in my memory. I'd had a CT scan and I was like, yeah, so that thing in my lung is like 10 centimeters big. And you said, well, that's gonna have to come out. That's all you said. And I was like, I did not wanna hear that, but you're right. I think I was like, turn around.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (56:11)

Yeah. Yeah. No, I, I,

there were a little, yeah, I heard.

Julie Granger (56:17)

It was like that affirmation

I was like, ugh. Yeah.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (56:20)

Yeah, I know. I remember

us sitting in that, like we had our treatment rooms, you know, like they're booths. I don't even know. There wasn't even like a room. It was like the curtain. And then we had like a little room with lockers and like a place to put our computers. I remember us in there, all sorts of stuff happening in that room with you know, because it was

Julie Granger (56:27)

huh.

alcove.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (56:42)

We didn't really want to talk in the staff room about everything. And it was usually you and me and there were a couple other PTs, but for some reason we were able to have private, more private conversations there. So I do remember having a few pretty private, important conversations in that little room ⁓ about your health or my health or what the hell are we doing kind of conversations. Ooh, baby. Yeah.

Julie Granger (56:44)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. That room, if Walls could talk. Yeah. ⁓

Well, so beautiful. ⁓ OK, we're going to make a pretty hard right turn pivot to the thing we do at the end of every episode here, which is hot seat lightning round questions that are pretty much all fun. ⁓ But you've got to give me your gut with each one. You ready for this?

Kate Mihevc Edwards (57:24)

Okay.

Do my best.

No.

I'm ready.

Julie Granger (57:30)

⁓

Okay, number one. If you could be any animal other than a human, what would it be and why?

Kate Mihevc Edwards (57:36)

That's funny. Okay, so I think an eagle because it's freedom and flying and I think flying is super cool and like the idea of just like riding the wave. I don't know, like just riding and then it just feels like a really good thing and I think freedom is really important to me.

Julie Granger (57:48)

Yeah. ⁓ yeah.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (57:57)

and on a lot of levels. But I also, know, my dogs because they're so spoiled and who wouldn't want to be one of my dogs? I mean, I literally cook them chicken and rice and carrots. They don't even eat real dog food. Like they're so spoiled. Yeah, there is a disaster at my house. So an eagle. Yeah, right. So.

Julie Granger (58:05)

Honestly, yeah.

Wow. They eat better than I do.

Yeah, that's

amazing. Eagle or your Wimerunners? Perfect. Eagle Eye also, like that sharp vision, you know, that fits, that tracks. I love that. All right, next question. If you could get a drink with two people dead or alive, who are they, why, what would you say to or ask them?

Kate Mihevc Edwards (58:21)

Yeah.

So that's, I don't, so every time someone asks me this question or like a question like this, I have a really hard time because the answer is I don't really know. I feel like I'm pretty lucky and I have every conversation I really want to have. Like I go and ask the people. I mean, obviously there are a lot of, can't do that with dead people, but, but.

Julie Granger (58:43)

me too.

Your answer

could be, I'm good. That could actually be the answer. Yeah.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (58:59)

Yeah, I think it is, like I'm good.

I feel like I just, I'm one of those people, if I have a question, I'm gonna call you and ask you whether I know you or not. That's actually the thing is I reach out to people on Instagram if I see a post that they did and I'm like, I wanna be your friend. I wanna understand this. I just reach out to people.

Julie Granger (59:16)

Yeah. Yeah. You're already taking care of it. It's not a pipe dream. Love that. All right. Next question. Does pineapple belong on pizza?

Kate Mihevc Edwards (59:27)

god no. Definitely not. Nope.

Julie Granger (59:29)

This is the most polarizing question I ask, and it's always,

God, no, or yes. There's no like, I don't know, maybe it depends on the pizza. Yeah.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (59:37)

No, but I do love it in soup, like like a like Vietnamese soup.

Julie Granger (59:42)

Whoa, okay, all right. Gonna have to try that, never heard of it, love it. All right, I am a fly on the wall on an average Friday night at your house. What do I see you doing?

Kate Mihevc Edwards (59:50)

So lame. I'm in what my husband

calls my inside clothes because apparently I have a few special outfits for when I'm inside. It's so hot in Atlanta or here that I change to go walk the dogs, change for work. So I'm in my inside clothes for sure, 100%.

Usually, well, it could go either way. I'm just done. So I'm reading on the couch and snuggling with the dogs or my child. But it's quiet for sure. Or we're playing a game as a family and we've made homemade pizza or something together. Andy helps me cook a lot. So yeah, we'll like cook something and then we'll play games. But we're pretty lame at my house. I mean, I don't want to stay up late. We don't really go out.

Julie Granger (1:00:27)

Nice.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:00:36)

But I don't want to. I'm so happy in the quiet.

Julie Granger (1:00:38)

Great.

Lame to who? Because

this sounds like a dream.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:00:44)

And when it's cold out, the fire's going, you know? Yeah, it's good.

Julie Granger (1:00:48)

Yeah,

yeah, yeah, this is not lame. We're gonna make lame cool again.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:00:51)

Yes, I'm in.

Julie Granger (1:00:53)

All right, actually, I think almost everyone I've interviewed has said pretty much the same thing. We had one person who was like, I'm up till 3 a.m. writing. I was like, good, love it. Also cool. On a Friday. All right, last one. What is a hidden pleasure or obsession of yours that people might find surprising, weird, quirky, or questionable?

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:00:58)

Now what does that say?

Cool.

hardcore.

I love romanticies. I have read like two or 300 romantic novels.

Julie Granger (1:01:17)

Mmm.

Two or three hundred?

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:01:22)

Yes, like I read like two a week. So I don't watch TV. I don't drink like I don't do I literally read those books and I read them in the car sometimes a bright stripe like I just love them and it's not really my personality because I usually you know, like it is now but like I would have been horrified at myself.

Julie Granger (1:01:25)

Amazing.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:01:41)

several years ago to admit it, but also to even consider it because it's not research, it's not helping my career, like it's not real, it's fantasy, like all of those things. I would have like given myself so much shit previously, but now I'm the happiest. I'm even in a Romantic book club. It's once a month on Wednesdays in my neighborhood at the little bookstore and it is my favorite. I love it.

Julie Granger (1:01:51)

It's not real.

Ugh. Okay.

This is amazing. So.

What's today? Thursday? Tomorrow night. If we come to your house, you're going to be snuggling with your very spoiled dogs that you would like to be if you had to choose one of two animals. You might have had pizza that will definitely not have pineapple on it that's homemade. You're not talking to anyone because you don't have any questions or you don't need to ask them anything. Tell them anything about yourself. You're reading a romantic book in your inside clothes and it's quiet.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:02:13)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah.

though.

you

You nailed it. That is my life.

Julie Granger (1:02:38)

That's amazing. Okay, I remember in PT school, I think it was you telling the story of it being so hot in Atlanta, walking into your apartment and like literally stripping off all the way down to naked because it was so hot. Yeah.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:02:50)

yeah.

Poor Lori, my roommate.

my God, I could not wait to take my clothes off. Like I was so hot and human because I grew up in the Northeast. I came from Boston. grew up in New England and...

my God, I would strip all of my, I broke out in full body hives the first week of PT school from the heat and stress. And like, I was just done. I don't even know how I'm still here, to be honest with you. Like, how did this even happen? But my house is so cold. Like, it's always like, you know, the condensation on my windows is ridiculous. It's like so expensive in the summer and the winter. It's like not, because I just can't. ⁓

Julie Granger (1:03:12)

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:03:31)

you

Julie Granger (1:03:31)

Listen,

you know what you like, that is the most important part. Own that.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:03:34)

I forgot,

I forgot that you needed, yeah, I used to, poor Lori, I used to be like, as soon as the door closed, and I would be so tired. I think she would find a row of clothes leading to my door and then me sleeping, hopefully covered. Yeah, so bad. Alone, by the way. But like, but yeah, I was so hot, I hated it.

Julie Granger (1:03:46)

That's the story that I remember. There's this trail, you know, ending with you naked in bed or something. Alone.

Yeah. Perfect.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:03:58)

Perfect.

Julie Granger (1:04:03)

All right, well,

on that note, let us know how we can get in touch with you.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:04:08)

Sure, ⁓ there definitely won't be. I'll be in my inside clothes, I promise.

Julie Granger (1:04:08)

I promise she won't be naked. Or maybe she will, I don't know.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:04:13)

so my name is, you know, Kate, Maheevik Edwards is my, ⁓ social media, I H E V C. And that's also my website, which has, ⁓ links to all my companies. So precision running medicine clinic, the run source app, which is on fastbananas.com. And then like it actually has a page with all the media and probably my books. I just put it all in one place. It's easy. yeah, that's where you can find me and whatever.

Julie Granger (1:04:38)

Amazing.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:04:39)

doing.

Julie Granger (1:04:40)

I'll put all that in the show notes plus all your Instagrams, all of them.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:04:44)

I know, what's happening? It makes me laugh.

Julie Granger (1:04:46)

all the Instagram handles. Okay.

It does. It does. Hey, you know what? Your team has some pretty funny reels they post sometimes, which I appreciate.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:04:53)

Yeah, they do, I know.

Julie Granger (1:04:54)

Good old Casey. Shout out to Casey.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:04:55)

I love my team.

really do. They're incredible. I just feel so lucky to have them. And yeah, I love them.

Julie Granger (1:05:06)

They're super

cool. All right, last closing remarks. What would you say to Kate from 10 years ago? Telling her Garmin to shut up. You could whisper in her ear, even if she wasn't going to listen, what would you say?

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:05:22)

I would tell her it was going to be okay. I mean, because it is, I mean...

Like the worst thing we think of is that we could die and we both, you and I, both were almost there, right? And it actually, that almost was probably the best thing that happened because it changed everything. I love my life now. And even though I was super, you know, I was successful and I was running marathons and all the things before, I didn't love it like I love it now. So, yeah. Right? It really is.

Julie Granger (1:05:49)

Yeah, right. It is the best thing. beautiful alchemy.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:05:55)

I know.

Julie Granger (1:05:55)

All right, well, thanks for being here. I'll have you back when you are launching your next venture or something. Whatever that next hole is that you plug.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:05:57)

Thanks.

Thank you Julie. Yeah

I hope for a little while we don't find one. Alright.

Julie Granger (1:06:07)

Next week you're gonna

call me and be like, guess what?

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:06:10)

Alright

Julie Granger (1:06:13)

Thanks.

Kate Mihevc Edwards (1:06:13)

Julie, thank you.