“I’m learning to be proud of what I’ve done. Instead of saying, there are other people who have done this or they’ve done better or they’ve done it faster. I still did it so I’m proud”
This week you’ll meet Tania Cahill on Sparta Chicks Radio.
In 2011, a doctor told Tania - then aged 42 - that she wouldn’t live to see grandchildren if she didn’t stop smoking and drinking.
That distressing doctor’s visit 7 years ago started a chain reaction of events that has led Tania to become the first woman to run the length of the Hume and Hovell Track - a 453km track from Yass to Albury in regional NSW.
Her time of 8 days, 12 hours and 39 minutes is now recognised as the ‘fastest known time’ (FKT) for a woman over the Hume and Hovell.
So how does a mother and grandmother who only started running a few years ago become a FKT record holder in just 7 years?
That’s what we explore in this episode.
In this conversation, we discuss:
* how Tania regained her health after that fateful doctor’s visit,
* why she started running,
* her first ultra marathon (not just any ultra mind you; it was the 250km, 6 day stage race called the Big Red Run across the Simpson Desert!),
* her preparation for the Hume and Hovell attempt, including the injury that cut short her race at the Tarawera 100km in New Zealand in February, 2018, causing her to question whether she was capable of the entire Hume and Hovell track,
* how her fear of failure caused her to keep secret - even from her family - the ultra events she was training for,
* what it’s like to stand on the proverbial ‘start line’ of the Hume and Hovell after 12 months of dreaming, planning and preparation,
* her fondest memory from the journey, as well as her darkest moment,
* what she should do differently if she were to go back and do it again, and what she learnt,
* her experience with the Imposter Complex and how it’s changed over the last 18 months,
* how her cycle of anxiety and depression has deepened her experience of the post-race blues and how she is navigating it.
Click here to listen on iTunes.
Notes and resources:
To find out more about Tania or to say hello, you can find her at the Facebook group she set up for the Hume and Hovell event.
