S2 E6: Solo Episode: The Art of Mentorship

In this Episode, Karey gives an update about what is going on in her neck of the woods, upcoming races, and touches on some recent accomplishments of previous guests of the pod.  

Karey's focus on this episode is the Art of Mentorship and she talks about the following:

• What does it mean to be a mentor?
• What is the state of female mentorship in the Sports world?
• What can we do to be good mentors
• How do we find other strong female mentors and role models in the adventure space

Here are some references to check out for further reading/listening!  (I receive no benefit from the links provided below)

Bravey - by Alexi Pappas

Good for a Girl - by Lauren Fleshman

Everyday Ultra podcast and Coaching (Joe Corcione) 

Ultra Performance Physical Therapy (Meghan Slavin)

Javelina Jundred Ultra Race

Across the Years Timed Endurance Race

Transcript

Solo Episode: Mentors

[00:00:00] 

Karey: Hello, everyone. And welcome to the Art of Type 2 Fun podcast. This is your host Karey Miles. I am so glad you have made the choice to tune into this episode because I've got a lot on my mind and I haven't recorded a solo episode as of recent, so welcome! And here we go. So just a bit about what I've been doing. 

I've been up and down with some foot injury stuff from some of my running, dating back clear back to like last February. So I've been working with my PT, Meghan, who is super rad and we've been doing a lot of work on it. I've also been working with my coach, Joe, to get me back on my feet. It's been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster when it comes to being active and trying to prep for my 50 mile race in December and all that. 

So, I'm sort of still dealing with it, but it's looking better. And I'm not giving up hope and I'm still planning on racing as long as I don't feel like I'm injuring myself. And so I think we've got a good grip on what's happening. And, [00:01:00] even though the race might not be pretty, I am fairly confident that I can finish. So even if it doesn't happen, like I wanted I wanted to, like increase my pace from my last 50 and 60ks. And like, be able to run a super-strong race. So knowing that I haven't had the training that I want, I'm just kind of taking it as it is, and that helps me stay a little bit more calm about it and just like going out there for the experience. And also to like, experience something with a bunch of other people that I've been running with. 

There's such a large group of our Tuesday night running women's running group that are racing both the 50 mile and the 50k out there. So I'm super excited to be out there with them and cheering people on and it's going to be so much fun. So that being said, folks, if you're dealing with an injury, be patient and take good care of yourself and good things should come. Get yourself a good crew to support you both mentally and physically, including your docs and your PT and [00:02:00] even a coach. My coach has been such a trooper through all this. Sometimes I feel like, um, I'm not a very fun athlete to work with right now because, um, or previously, because I wasn't doing much. But he's been very supportive. So I'm very appreciative of him. I'm also lucky to be working with. , PT extrordinaire, Megan Slavin we mentioned earlier. She just opened up her very new, very own practice here in Phoenix called Ultra Performance Physical Therapy. And, uh, she does phenomenal stuff and is so knowledgeable. And patient, and also pushes you when you need to be pushed. And I would highly recommend her for anybody in the Phoenix area. Then, like I mentioned, I get to be a part of the Everyday Ultra Racing Team being coached by Joe Corcione who is a fantastic person all around and is such a great athlete. He just placed top 10 at the Javelina Jundred ultra a couple of weeks ago, so congrats, Joe. Um, so anyway, that's my blurb about what I've been doing lately. [00:03:00] 

Secondly, I wanted to give an update on a couple of the ladies who have previously been featured on this podcast. Firstly, I want to give a shout out to Karen Pocock who recently finished the Arizona Trail 800. She successfully completed the AZT 800 in 11 days, five hours and 18 minutes, which also means hiking through the grand canyon with a bike on her back because the wheels cannot touch the ground through the entire Grand Canyon. The AZT is always considered a brutal trail, especially the 800 and this year more than half the starters scratched, leaving only 15 finishers. So congrats to Karen for an impressive race. 

Secondly, I want to give a huge shout out to a fellow lady runner who was also on the pod a couple of months ago. Liz Trokey, who gives so much to the running community here in Phoenix, as well as being one of the kindest people. completed the Javelina Jundred ultra marathon. also a couple of weeks ago. This was her third try to finish and as they say, third time's a charm. [00:04:00] And she crossed the finish line with a smile on her face. And I had the pleasure of seeing her come through the Rattlesnake aid station when I was there about halfway through her race. So congrats on all your hard work, Liz. You are a rockstar! 

So. I've been thinking a lot about role models and mentors lately. It's a bit of an unfamiliar concept for me because I have never really been one to consciously seek out, like, role models or mentors. I usually just figure things out on my own. I don't seek a lot of guidance and I tend to learn things the hard way, which has proved both beneficial in my stubbornness and my mental fortitude, but it also has proved detrimental, because it takes me often a long time to figure things out or figuring things out the hard way. 

So I recently read. Read, um, a book called Bravey which is by Olympian runner Alexi Papas. And, um, it's a phenomenal and thought provoking book, where she talks a lot about [00:05:00] her mentors and what it means to be a mentor to others, especially female mentors when you're a woman, obviously, or a girl. I also followed that up by reading. Good for a Girl: a Woman Running in a Man's World,  by professional runner Lauren Fleshman, where she talks about how both male and female mentors have both helped and held her back. 

Both writers and athletes mentioned how tough it was to find good female mentors, that are really in the sport and like really doing all the hard things. This is not simply because there weren't females doing all the hard things, but also because they are often overlooked for positions that put them in a place to be a strong mentor, like, an athletic coach for club teams and in universities and things like that. 

And I would like to hope that this is changing. I think it is slowly, um, and especially, you know, Lauren I think is in the same generation as I am. I think Alexi might be a little bit younger, but, um, But, you [00:06:00] know, it's still. Still it's still a thing. We don't see a lot of head female coaches for female sports so we want to see that change.  

I would highly recommend both of these books but just as a note, both of them talk about eating disorders as well as sensitive topics like depression and suicide. Alexi, whose mother died early in her life talks in-depth about how non-metal. Mother figures in her life have shaped. Um, her and how she avoided. I did other mother figures that tried to tell her how to live her life. Actively seeking out these role models that she identified with and kind of tried to figure out like truly what she wanted to seek out and how that would shape her.I applaud her for even having the knowledge or the wherewithal as a young girl to figure out what she identified with and how to seek that out.  On her journey through her book, she goes onto explain how she figured out how to trust and find mentors from those around her and it got her a long way. [00:07:00] 

Um, so it got me to thinking:  who have my mentors or Role models been in my athletic endeavors and in life in general. And if I haven't had any, has this been a disservice to myself? Furthermore, how do I start now? Because I am definitely discovering in my life that it is very beneficial to enroll some mentors or find some mentorship in life, because then you're not reinventing the wheel.

Like I said consciously, I've never been one to seek advice, which is something I've been working on as of late. I often have that, “I can get it done on my own” attitude and like, I said, I learned things the hard way. You can ask my parents, they would totally agree. Um, As far as female mentors go, I mean, in the house and like in my Day-to-day life, my mom was always there to show and teach me how to be a good person, how to keep a house clean, how to cook, how to bake, how to play board games (especially Yahtzee), how to get good grades. All important qualities that I keep with me to this day. [00:08:00] She supported me in my musical endeavors, always encouraging me to keep up and do the best that I can, which I truly appreciate. It has gotten me really far in life to have those qualities. 

On the other side of growing up is the sports and athletic endeavors. And so I've been trying to think if I had female mentorship in this area in my life. When I was growing up, I played sports through church groups and eventually joined a club soccer team when I was in fifth grade with my friend, Liz. I was hooked. Liz's mom coached the team and I came to learn that women could be very athletic and in a strong way. And though our soccer team at the time was not very athletic or successful it helped me to learn to love sports and being competitive. I stayed in soccer and proceeded to make the varsity team in ninth grade, as well as varsity basketball, the same year, after only making the B team for basketball in eighth grade. 

I worked really hard. With soccer, I was good. I had played for a while by then. And, I really enjoyed it. I was strong. I played [00:09:00] midfield and I worked my ass off. Our coach, Laddie, was very supportive of us girls. He pushed us hard and we were a really good team. We were a really competitive team. Um, and I remember looking up to him. I never wanted to disappoint him and that helped me work harder. But then basketball was a different story. I wasn't very good, but my work ethic was 110%. In tryouts. I missed probably, I don't know. I'd say 50 to 60 percent of my shots, but when we had to run ladders, I finished second place after Angela, who was notoriously the fastest one in the team. 

So I did really, really well in that area. So I think that's why they had me on the team. They saw my work ethic which I would attribute back to my mom or my parents for instilling that in me. But both of these teams, my point is that they both had male coaches. I appreciated them both probably Laddie more than the other coach, but where were the female coaches? 

Well, they were teaching dance team. Um, the head of the cheerleading team also coached dance team, [00:10:00] which I eventually joined in my senior year of high school. I enjoyed dance team, but I didn't identify much with the dance team coach who was very girly. She was really good but I didn't really fit the mold of that kind of gal. Um, and I definitely trended toward like the sporty tomboy type of person. So even though she was a great coach, you know, really pushed us,  like, she wasn't very inspiring to me. 

Um, skip ahead eight very difficult years of losing and finding myself again, and I started riding my bike. After I started dating somebody who raced their bikes semi-professionally I wanted to experience the same. I hopped on a steel frame, Univega bicycle that was lent to me and off I went. I joined the University of Oregon collegiate cycling team And within months I had my very first race. Our coach, Gilad. (Yes, another guy) was strict and pushed us [00:11:00] hard and we were very fit because of it. I totally jive with his, like, strictness in his, like pushing us. He had us in the gym three times a week as a team. So it would really build comradery and doing rides three to four days a week as well. Well, this is awesome, but the team was made up mostly of guys, myself and only two other women. Where were all the women?

I wondered, like I just, I was like, I know more women can ride bikes, but how do we reach other women? And initially. I remember in the initial interest of like the collegiate club team meeting, there were other women who had shown up that were interested, but then when it came down to racing, like there only us three that year. 

Though, on the team, there was one gal who had been on the squad for a few years. She was a graduate student named Lisa who has a bad-ass and I immediately took notice.  She was quiet and sort of awkward, but she was also fast and she worked very hard. She had a private coach besides Gilad. And, [00:12:00] she had made a goal of racing in the Paralympics as a Stoker for a blind cyclist and they had won medals in the Paralympics. She trained hard and raced harder. She was my first in-person female sports role-model, Anytime I would ride with her, I did my intervals harder. I pushed myself just a little bit further. And when it came down to racing in my category, (she was a category. ahead of me) I did very well. I know a lot of it comes down to my mental fortitude and the work I was doing as well as our coach, Gilad’s relentlessness and drilling, but having a woman to see like what could actually be possible was incredibly important to my success and development as a cyclist.

I like to think as the years have passed in the generations to follow me that there are more and more strong female role models that are present in girls' lives, especially strong, independent thinkers: teachers, sports team coaches, et cetera. But going back a bit, when I was growing up, I think the first time I really thought of a teacher as [00:13:00] someone I wanted to be, I was in sixth grade. The earliest memory I had from growing up where I thought, oh wow. 

I could do that too, was in sixth grade when I had Ms. Gillespie as my teacher. Ms. Gillespie was young, compared to most of the teachers. She was cool, but she still expected a lot out of us. And I remember the first time I disappointed her by passing a note to my best friend, Liz. Is in class and she made an example out of me.  You can bet I never did that again. One day in class, she was talking to us about her summer breaks and she mentioned that she drove a big machine doing construction during the summers and it. It blew my mind. That was a man's job. I was just like, oh my gosh. She's so tough. She's like out there in the sun and she's working construction and. I had no idea that a woman could do such a thing. 

And she said she enjoyed it. Like she rally loved to be outside, getting a tan and making a lot of money. And this stuck with me, not necessarily because I wanted to grow up and work construction, but that a woman could do more [00:14:00] jobs than, or more things than I had previously thought possible. Like it opened up a whole world to me. After that I don't recall specifically thinking of any women as a mentor on that, like the sports or like activity, or like doing hard things role model. 

The only other one I can think of is like maybe Ms. Anderson in junior high health coach. She was like your typical lesbian health teacher, super butch. I really enjoyed her. A lot of kids made fun of her, but I really enjoyed her. She loved sports, she played volleyball. Well, she was actually the coach of volleyball. So there's um, a good example of a strong female role model as a coach. Um, and she loved to lift weights. Um, and so even though our main strength coach for for our sports team was, um, like our soccer and basketball team was a guy, I still remember, um, like throwing myself a little bit more into the weightlifting through the basketball and soccer practice, because I wanted to be fit like Miss A. [00:15:00] She was super fit. 

For the most part. Though, I didn't really seek out mentorship from anyone. Ms. A never knew I liked weightlifting ecause I never let her know that she inspired me and I've never asked for guidance. Ms. Gillespie never knew she inspired me because I never asked her to show me or ask her to tell me more about her work. Of course, I was only in sixth grade at the time, but still. Sure, I had folks in church and family telling me how I should be, but I didn't feel like I wanted to be like most of them. Not that they weren't inspiring people, but it was just stuff I didn't really identify with, or they just really stoked my fire. 

In my adult life, since I found passion in the outdoors and I've been creating a space for that as a main part of my life, I have found myself inspired by many women: famous record holders. FKT-ers as well as the Back-of-the-Packers and everyday athletes. This said, back in 2016, when I initially started backpacking bikepacking, there are a few women that I could go to for [00:16:00] information and inspiration. I remember when I first learned about Kait Boyle and she was doing things, all sorts of things in the wilderness. And that's where I discovered Bikepacking Roots and saw what amazing things she was doing with the organization, co-founding it with  Kurt Reifschneider. And then also seeing like Lael Wilcox and FKTs on the tour divide and the great mountain bike route and race across America a nd all these things. She was schooling, even the men and I was enamored and I still am. Like these women were out there doing super rad things. But how was I supposed to seek out guidance, especially back then, like, the YouTube videos and everything like that, weren't as popular. I was definitely too intimidated to really reach out on my own. 

Um, but nowadays, I'm so overjoyed to see folks like this who are holding, like women, who are holding virtual workshops, like Kait’s  bikepacking. Workshops through Bikepacking Roots. The link is in the episode notes. If you're curious!

And then Lael’s [00:17:00] documentation of her epic bike journeys. Um, which are so inspiring and just showing that like women can do these things too, and. really really well. There are also folks like Tara Dower And Cynthia Carson, both previously on the pod, who are excellent content creators that make adventuring more accessible to anyone who seeks it. And especially women. Which is a priceless asset to have out there and one thing that I didn't have growing up in my generation. I find myself nowadays falling down rabbit holes of YouTube videos, trying to gain all the inspiration and knowledge of my fellow lady adventures. And honestly, I sort of hope to do the same for others through the podcast. 

Let's backtrack just a bit though. Though, because I want to give a shout out to my close friends and adventure buddies, the Type 2 Funbassador Group that I feel so lucky to have around. Looking back on it now, though, we all sort of learned from each other. My mentorship came in the form of my best adventure buddies back in Oregon, when I lived there. Heather, Aliza, Jess, Anna and DeAnn started [00:18:00] adventuring together, um, both on the bike and off the bike. We've done crazy bike adventures. We’ve done crazy backpacking adventures. Um, And the bike packing stuff. Mostly we started. With a crazy idea from Heather to, um, ride the Great Divide. And so we all started in Banff and we fell in love with it. Um, Heather and I went the whole, well, a whole 30 days on the trail and learned the hard way, but we learned from each other, and we inspired each other every day being out there together. Since then, I can't even count on two hands and maybe not even on all four appendages, even two feet, two hands all the adventures we've done between the group of us. We've shared our experiences together. We've talked about things. We've learned some of it the hard way. We inspire one another every day. 

And I realize that I've had this all along. And so maybe I didn't consciously go out and ask for it but it's there. [00:19:00] 

It's something that I seek out and, and I keep it close to my heart. Um, I want to specifically, just because I've been thinking a lot about my friend, Heather, who is also doing like a bunch of Type 2 Fun mom things right now. Um, I remember when Heather, AKA fast donkey, told me about this race she was racing down in Arizona. Arizona. We lived in Portland and California, respectively, at the time. And it was in 2016 and the race called Across The Years, uh, is an ultra marathon. It's a timed race where you run as many miles around a set course, a short course, as you can in 24 or 48 hours. And she came in fifth place out of everyone. I thought she was crazy and inspiring all at the same time. She ended up beating her goal and running a total of 108 miles in that 48 hours. 

And I was so proud and inspired by her incredible feat. Then two years later in 2020, she said she wanted to race a hundred mile [00:20:00] race. So she signed up for Javelina Jundred in the Phoenix area. Just a reminder that at this time I was fairly new to Phoenix. And I didn't know a lick about ultra running. 

Like, I didn't run. At all. Unless I needed to do a warm up jog for weightlifting, like, I did not run. I had never heard about Javelina Jundred, um, didn't know anything about it. So Heather did the race completely alone with no pacers since she was only allowed one crew OR one pacer, because of COVID restrictions. She finished under her goal time, and I couldn't even fathom running a hundred miles. Little did she, or I know that her actions and her grit and determination would plant a little seed in my mind and in my heart that I wanted to try and do big things and when I caught the running bug three years later this would be the thing for me too. Since then Heather has been my biggest running mentor, answering all of my silly questions, always questioning what the latest and greatest gear, Sports bra shoes, socks. [00:21:00] Do I look like a burrito in this outfit?  Everything you could imagine, she's there for it. She even gets to hopefully pace me and my last 10 miles of my upcoming 50 mile race in December if my body will let that happen. So I can’t wait to share that with her. 

I also feel so lucky to have the rest of my crew who continues to do far-fetched adventures going abroad to experience backcountry all over the world, which I truly admire since I don't get to go overseas very much. (Darn work.) But I live vicariously and learn from their epic journeys. I feel lucky to have a crew like this. And until now, when I was sitting here reflecting and I'm putting all this together, about the who's and how's of mentorship, that I realize that I've had such great mentors with me all along. And how lucky I am that this group of freaking awesome women are also… like these people are, they're all women. And I just feel so lucky. These women are strong. They aren't afraid to be themselves and embrace the toughness of the outdoors and beyond. This said, I think that one of my goals [00:22:00] this coming year is to strive more to reach out for help and guidance in other areas of my life as well. And I encourage you all to do the same. I think if we learn to learn from each other, we can create such a strong network of strong women across. the world who are encouraging each other and lifting each other up and learning from each other. 

You know, I a lot of this today has been focused so much on my outdoor pursuits that I put, I tend to put things like career on the back burner. And, um, I know that I have a lot to learn there because I also am very privileged to have, some strong female mentors in my life, in that area right now. And so taking advantage of that is very important. Again, I encourage you all to take action and either seek mentorship in whatever area of life you're needing even if you don't think you need to. We can always learn a lot from others. And if you have mentors out there who, you know and love, thank them often. A good mentor that [00:23:00] really jives with you can be a tricky thing to find so make sure to send some love their way. 

And that's that! I'm going to wrap up by saying thanks to everyone again for listening. I appreciate all your support and encouragement. Thanks to my guests who are wonderful inspiration to me and I feel privileged to get to learn from you all. Make sure to continue to listen and like, and subscribe and all that good stuff. Also, don't forget to. Check out the podcast website at Theartoftypetwofun.com where I touch on gear, especially for bikepacking and trail stories and more. I'm going to be continuing to develop that, so there's more gear and report information on there.

 So until next time y'all…I'm signing!