022 Natalie Mitchell - Handling Setbacks with a Fierce Mindset & The Importance of Runner Safety

Episode Summary

Natalie Mitchell is a seven-time marathoner, four-time Boston qualifier and five-time triathlete who is also a mother to three incredible children and wife to her best friend, Jerold. Today, Whitney and Natalie share in a rich discussion on why we love running despite the sacrifices and heartache it can sometimes give us, handling a Marathon DNF with grace and running safety, especially in the wake of the tragic murder of Liza Fletcher. Natalie opens up about her husband’s recent life-threatening health emergency and the major lessons she has taken away from that experience.

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Key Takeaways

01:08 – Whitney Heins introduces today’s guest, Natalie Mitchell, who joins the show to share why she continues to return to running despite the heartache it can give us

10:10 – A beautiful Marathon build, a devastating injury, and dealing with a DNF (Did Not Finish)

22:56 – Natalie’s fierce mindset and her ability to play the long game

27:25 – Natalie training and recovery journey

34:19 – Pivoting from the Indy Marathon to a late Fall/early Winter Marathon

39:37 – Natalie opens up about her husband Jerold’s recent life-threatening health emergency

45:36 – Whitney and Natalie reflect on the recent murder of Liza Fletcher and the importance of keeping yourself safe while running

52:06 – Whitney thanks Natalie for taking the time to join the show and share her story

Tweetable Quotes

“I love the Marathon so much because the training, and the discipline, and just really what you have to put into your training from every perspective - from time management, to nutrition, to setting these really fun and hard goals - those are, for me, some of the reasons I keep coming back to the distance.” (07:18)

“We all have little aches and pains and things that happen in the Marathon. That’s just part of the sport. But it wasn’t that. It was like this hamstring is just done at this point. It’s telling me that. And now I have to listen to my body. If I push myself through just to say I crossed the finish line, A.) I’m not gonna do anything that I know I’m capable of. And B.) I’m gonna be so injured after this that who knows when I’m gonna be able to get back on the road again? So we pulled out. It was super emotional. I mean who wants a DNF? I always believe in finishing what you start and you don’t quit, but it just wasn’t meant to be that day.” (20:59)

“I thought, ‘Ya know, I’m gonna try to make the best of the experience that I have. I’m here. There’s this beautiful stadium. There’s a lot of great things that are happening. These runners are putting their all into it and they’re having a great day. And my day is going to come, it’s just unfortunately not going to be today. But I do want to be there, and cheer other people on, and just be there and soak up the experience.” (24:14)

“I think the big lesson here that we both want to put out to the world is that this can happen to anybody. We really feel like if this can happen to us, it can happen to anybody. You can be a runner. You can be fit. You can take care of yourself. You can feel like you’re doing all the things that you should be doing to take care of your health, and something like this happens.” (42:10)

“I think the only thing we can do is just try to be as safe as we can and let people know where we’re going and just don’t make yourself a target. No one should be able to look at us and say, ‘I know that Whitney runs at 7am every day on this route.’ Nobody should know that.” (49:25)