Slow Down to Go Fast: With Guest Kimber Gabryszak

I have to say I was a little cocky going into it I'm like, I'm a runner. I'm a sprinter. This is gonna be fine.

it was like I started from zero And it was it's just frustrating like you see people that look out of shape and have terrible form and they just Run right by you.

I mean on my half Iron Man

I got passed on the run by someone who was clearly in his mid sixties or older with his arm in a sling.

You

Hello and welcome to the Athletes Compass podcast where we navigate to training, fitness and health for everyday athletes. We are excited to welcome today's guest, our everyday athlete, Kimber Gabryszak Welcome Kimber, where do you live now?

Currently I live in Park City, Utah, so recreation hub, it's a rough life. I'll just say that. Oh, yes.

You

outdoor activities. So I ask

you it that way because you have a really interesting life story about how you landed in endurance sports. Can you tell us about your athletic background and what initially got you into endurance sports?

boy. So that's a rabbit hole, a long star. I'll try to keep it super short. So I grew up in very rural Alaska, 40 miles from the nearest road thereabouts. And so

Yeah.

Lots of power and that translated into sport when I finally left, went to college and explored the lower 48 as we call the outside with a capital O when you're in Alaska, you're all outside. So that translated into sport. found my way into mountain biking and downhill mountain biking, which is very power oriented. know, you have a four minute race where you're, you're red lines the whole time or a six minute race or a two minute race.

going completely all out, pedaling downhill. Super fun. If you like adrenaline, it's awesome. Dangerous, lots of injuries. And then I met my now husband in Park City. And he was working at the Utah Olympic Park and got into skeleton, which is for those listening that don't know it, it's kind of obscure. If you know bobsled and luge, skeleton is the version where you go head first. And obviously you can tell I liked adrenaline.

So did that for about a decade. was on the US national team. And that's obviously not yet endurance. So we're almost there, I promise. But when I was done with skeleton, I realized that heavy lifting and power sprinting, it's good for you, but not really sustainable as you get older. And I'm really big on aging well and being strong in my 70s and 80s. I watched a lot of my grandparents decline. And so my husband and I are very big on that.

because, you know, when we would warm up for a sprint workout, we would run one 400 and then some hundreds and like, you want me to run how many laps? What? And now we're talking about a marathon length. It's been kind of a mind bender this whole experience. So yeah, that was really long, but that's my story.

So what made you think like 70.3? Like it's so far from sprint and power. What was it that attracted you to long distance?

Yeah.

No.

I think because it was such a challenge, know, running my first 5k was a huge, huge milestone for me. Like that was, that's distance. That was distance for me. I had some friends that were into triathlon and they got me to sign up for a sprint. They were doing the Olympic and I was like, you guys are nuts. That is so far. Oh my gosh. And then once I had done a sprint, it's like, well, now I need to do the next one. And then once I did an Olympia, I was like, well.

Now I need to do the next one. Like I need the next challenge. And now that I've done a full, I'm like, I can't just go back to only half. I have to do another full, you know, I have to do it better. So I like the challenge of it. the, the, you know, the having three sports where you don't get burned out or over trained on one of them, the variety, the interest, all, all three sports are a challenge. Well, biking is cycling is not as much of a challenge for me, but running and swimming, huge challenges. And so, yeah, just.

I

Like a challenge, yeah.

That was actually going to be my question, Kimber. What's like, so you just said the swimming and the running tended to be the hardest. So talk us through that process of either those. So cycling, could kind of just still get on there. You've got the power in your legs. just kind of, while you're a bit of an anaerobe, would just kind of, you'd grind it through and you've got some sort of lower floor there where you, but.

Yeah.

But there's a whole new motor pattern, I would guess, for both swimming and for running that you had to develop. Would that be true?

Absolutely. Running is probably the biggest challenge. I I am most proud honestly of my Ironman swim because that was terrifying. I had her swim coach, I took lessons, I swam a ton. We have an open water group here in Park City that I swam with regularly. the fact that I made it through the swim at an okay pace.

didn't have to panic or take a break. Like that was, that was a mental hurdle, but I enjoyed that the most. The run is much more challenging because I love sprinting. There's something about getting to that high cadence and just feeling all the power. But when I start to run, run distance, it's more like a shuffle stagger kind of look like a zombie, you know, trying to, trying to keep my heart rate low enough. I mean, I have a really low resting heart rate naturally, even when I'm not fit. And so getting it high on the

you

and other sports is hard, but for running, it's like as soon as I hit like an 11 minute mile, I'm redlined, or at least I was, not anymore. And so running was definitely the hardest for me because trying to feel like I'm running when it's not a sprint and sustain it for a long period of time, like that was definitely the hardest thing for me. Not only that, but going into my Ironman, I had just finished a year of surgeries and whatnot. So I definitely wasn't trained enough for the run.

I mean...

my Ironman and the whole time through the Ironman I'm like, okay, swim was good. You still have a marathon after this. Okay, bike. You could go faster. Nope, nope. You have a marathon after this. That was the only thing on my mind was you have a marathon to run. And it was, yeah, that's definitely the most challenging.

So

can you talk me through, Kimber, the whole process of getting that heart rate lower during the run? Because that is a question or a comment that comes up so many times to everyday athletes and especially athletes that are just starting out on the journey of learning to run. My goodness, they not get it? They just can't figure out how they're ever gonna run at low heart rates. And it takes them forever. Just like you described, they start out

Nah.

And it's not one kilometer in or whatever, and the heart rate is sort of through the roof, right? So what was your experience? How did you finally get there in the end?

Thank

my gosh, yeah.

That is a great question and thank you. You I have to say I was a little cocky going into it I'm like, I'm a runner. I'm a sprinter. This is gonna be fine. I'm gonna be I'm gonna be a runner No, it was like I started from zero And it was it's just frustrating like you see people that look out of shape and have terrible form and they just Run right by you. Like what is happening? I mean on my half Iron Man

This is one of my proudest moments because I just had to laugh it go. This is great. I got passed on the run by someone who was clearly in his mid sixties or older with his arm in a sling.

You

It is what it is. I'm going at the pace I can sustain. I just had to chuckle. Anyway, you think running is just running. You put on shoes and you go out and we were born to run. There's that whole book and it is hard. You see people that are running eight minute miles. You're like, can they ever do that? It seems to come so naturally, but you don't realize almost everybody went through that process of run walking or running super slow.

And so that was really, really it. had to eat my pride and run 30 steps and walk 10, run 30 steps and walk 10. And then I'd get to being able to run a hundred.

But you did, I mean, you had to slow down to go faster, right?

Yes,

Yeah.

thank you. I did have to slow down to go faster. And what I love about, you know, the integration with Garmin, for example, I couldn't get it to work on Apple, but on Garmin, it's like, you're going too fast. Slow down. And it starts beeping at you, yelling at you to slow down. And like, well, I can't really slow down much more without walking. So I guess I'm going to walk until it stops yelling at me.

you

But obviously because you had that high level athletic background that you realized that it's a process and nothing will be given to you. You have to earn it. earning it means that you have to slow down first. Can you talk to me about what went in your head at that time when you...

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

realize that you have to slow down. It's hard to believe that you can actually run at some point when you are in that, I have to walk.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it's a mind, it's a good exercise in patience. There's the proverb, know, chop wood, carry water, trust the process, right? Where you just have to put in the time and slowly seeing those 30 steps with 30 steps running, 10 steps walking, you know, eventually it ended up being about 100 running and 50 walking for a while it was 50-50.

So.

I'd run 100, walk 100 at best. But seeing those come down over time and then all of a sudden you could actually run a mile without stopping and it was admittedly extremely slow, but you did it. You just ran a mile without stopping. But you see those incremental pieces and just have to step back. You're like, is the process. Next time, maybe I'll make it 200 steps before I walk. Maybe I'll make it 300 steps. And I have a little OCD, so I count my steps. That's how I know these.

ratios. You just have to be in the moment and you have to accept. I'm not going to be a 10-minute miler tomorrow. It might take me a couple years to get there, but I'm going to be able to run without stopping at some point. I can see it getting better every day, but you can't rush that. If you rush that, you're going to blow yourself up or hurt yourself because you're overdoing it. Then you won't see that. You'll actually see steps backwards as opposed to forward.

Mm-hmm.

What do you think you're proudest of? What do you think your sports accomplishments are from your past? You've done so many things.

Ugh.

Yeah, that's a blessing and a curse because I tend to be overly analytical and outthink myself sometimes. I actually held myself back in skeleton at times, I think, because I would overcomplicate the process or overthink it as opposed to feeling it. So I've been trying to find the balance between thinking and feeling. Going into my Iron Man, I had this most ridiculous spreadsheet literally with V lookups and whatever to figure out the times and how much

Okay.

nutrition I need and I'm like, okay, I'm overdoing it. But I feel better having thought things through and then I can go feel it. I mean, I've had a few a few really great moments. Most of the time I've been a pack filler to be honest. In downhilling, you know, I had one win and that felt great. But, you know, it was just more completing it being part of it, seeing my own personal improvement, erasing myself for the most part. Those are some of my accomplishments.

Hmm.

the thoughtfulness that you mentioned, Paul, like putting a plan together, sticking to the plan, say, okay, if I can hit this many miles running, I have a chance at finishing the marathon. maybe I'll just, I went into it with the mindset of, you know what? Your swims come along, you're going to do great. If you can do well on the swim, that's a win. And then it's going to be gravy on top if you can do well on the bike. And then there's a chance you could run, walk your way to a finish. If you could finish.

that's going to be amazing. And so I kind of had to, the fact that I went into it with the mindset of I could not finish and be okay with that, but that I had followed the plan and the process and that there was a path to, I think that that's my biggest accomplishment. Like I was so proud of that. I cried at the finish line. It was such an emotional day. My husband was there at the finish. My swim coach came down to visit and he's a, an awesome crazy Cuban guy who just brought so much energy.

Thank

Hmm.

It was probably one of the best days of my life and one of the hardest things I've ever done. And it was really cool. So there you go.

So cool. Talk us through the benefits of having a swim coach, Kimber, because I hear that can really help people that are a little bit challenged with their swimming.

That is awesome.

I cannot speak highly enough of having a swim coach. I took a swim class in college and got enough that I could swim a lap. That was about it. And then I didn't swim for about 15 years, other than you go to the beach and you can swim if you have to. When I started trying triathlon, I was like, I don't know how to swim. It's just this, spin your arms around and you kick. It's totally easy and all you need is practice. No, no.

I would watch YouTube videos, I would think I was doing the exercise and let me just fast forward to get a swim coach. Even if you only take three lessons from a swim coach, it will change your life. You can try as hard as you want to mimic what you're seeing in a YouTube video, but having someone on the side that can watch you, film you, give you drills to, you know, I was...

not rotating enough and I wasn't getting my elbows up and I do this weird thing where my hands like try to dodge the water because I'm not high enough out. He's like, I don't know how you do this while you're swimming. Having someone to give you that feedback and then figure out the drill that fits for you. You he had me try the, you know, touch your armpit with your thumb. Well, that just aggravated the weird hand thing. He's like, okay, now we're going to do this big loop thing, you know, and figuring out what works for me, which was different because my husband decided to swim with me. So he was taking the lessons too, and he needed different things.

Having a swim coach hands down, absolutely worth it. So yeah, can't recommend enough. Obviously find someone who is an actual swim coach and isn't just parroting things from YouTube, like who has swam or worked with a team. But yeah, can't, recommend highly enough.

Nice. Now

that's great advice. I think, you know, we haven't really talked too much about it on the athletes compass podcast, but swimming for those that are unaware is a very technical sport. I mean, almost like, you know, 50 % or more is, is, is efficiency and technique versus metabolic. Right. So you can have the greatest session prescribed to you in athletic or elsewhere.

Okay.

and it's only gonna go so long to making you move quickly and smoothly and efficiently through the water. And this is what Kimber's kind of saying here is that, having someone with experience and eyes on you to actually see how you're moving through the water can be so advantageous to you because of the corrections that you'll get.

Okay.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

and then you'll slide through so much. Like you said, you don't even need too many sessions sometimes to really get you pointed in the right direction. So it's a very good investment if you can afford it.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

It's kind of interesting as we've taken the lessons. I've been swimming at the same pool now for five or six years and I see people that have just kept swimming exactly the same and aren't getting any better because there's only so much you can do on your own. At some point, you'll just kind of get to a good level and if you're okay with that, that's great. Just keep your fitness up. But there's some flailing out there. I'm not trying to judge, but I'm like, man, you need one lesson with my coach and it will change your life.

Ha

Yeah, totally. Coach, looking at you or even you sitting by the poolside and watching other people, you can kind of start picking up things that you would tell them if you were their coach. And even getting yourself filmed while you swim and then watch that, it's brutal, but so helpful.

Okay.

soon.

Mm-hmm.

I know. We bring

the GoPro and my husband will go down and take pictures and I'm like.

Nice.

It's so helpful because like you don't, when you're learning the technical part of swimming, you don't know how you're doing it.

Thanks.

Well, I might have overbooked my year, but I have the goal of, you know, I mentioned earlier running is my hard one, but it's actually something I've come to enjoy a lot, especially trail running. I love trail running. You can't really listen to music. It's not as boring and pounding and I can take the dog and we're out in the woods and up on the hill. And so running is kind of the theme of the year, although

St. George, the half has been something I've been interested in. And was like, oh, I'll do that someday, but it looks really hard. And then I saw that this is the last year of it. I went, oh no, it's probably sold out. I went to the website. It wasn't sold out. I texted my husband, And he goes, go for it. And I went, click. obviously it impacts him a lot and he was a huge support. So I wanted to make sure he's like, this might mess our winter up a little bit with skiing.

Ha

Hehehehe

So yeah, so I have the St. George half on and that is a lot of climbing. So kind of intimidated, but excited about that. But otherwise the rest of the year, well, and I already have another half. It's a long story because I thought I was going to have to defer, do the Ironman this year. So I have a local half in Utah in September, but the summer there's an event in Park City called the Triple Trail Challenge. And I did it once before when I was first getting into endurance, you start off with a trail half marathon in June.

And then you do this awesome event. It used to be called the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase and now it's Jupiter Peak something. But Jupiter Peak is one of the highest peaks at Park City Mountain Resort that you can go up to on powder days. You run to the top of that. So it's eight miles up and you go 3,000 feet up and you turn around and it's eight miles back down. And the top of it is literally like you're scrambling hands and feet on rock. It's super fun on some local bike trails other than the top piece.

And then in August, it's the, the mid mountain, there's a mid mountain trail in park city where it kind of hugs the 8,000 foot mark and it's really long and it's a great bike trail. They're shutting that down for the mid mountain 50 K. So I've signed up for all, for the series. so yeah, and then I'm considering, I will probably do the iron man in Arizona again, cause I'll have all that base going in and I'd really love to see what I could do when I actually have more than seven months of training for the same event, kind of apples to apples.

So yeah, it's a bit much. yeah, some of those runs are more like long training days though. So the half marathon at least.

That's a lot. That's a lot.

the year.

Great adventures.

Yeah.

That's amazing. I hope you have fun.

Yeah, so I'm on the mid volume plan for Athletica. I work full time and so fitting in any more than that, in fact, fitting in the top end of the mid volume is hard sometimes. So I'm on the mid volume, I swim three days a week, sometimes four during the summer because I'll go open water on the weekends. Right now it's more of a polar plunge, you get in the very cold water with your friends in the snowy reservoir for a couple minutes and call it a day.

So I swim three days a week. One of those is still with my coach. One is with the master's group and then one's just doing the athletic workout because I like to mix it up a little bit. And then, you know, I'm just on the mid volume plan. That's pretty much the plan. Substitute some of my bike training with the we're doing as a racing team, which is super fun and a challenge almost throughout the first race we did. That was great.

Yeah.

MJ was there and then running. So running here in Park City is great because there's so much elevation, although it can be challenging. I did the five, I just reset my plan because I didn't like a few of the settings or I'd messed up some of my time constraints. So I reset that. And so I decided to keep the test week even though I hate test week and my 5K.

The five mile with the 5K in the middle of it was in a blizzard and there was snow on the ground. So was a little rough, slippery. But yeah, so that's pretty much it. My difficulty is that I also teleski and I do some backcountry skiing and throw in some roller skating. So finding balance between living life and training is the hard part. Yesterday I did a two hour bike ride and then we went and skied for two hours.

you

Wow.

So my recovery score was not great and Athletico was yelling at me for noncompliance, but there you go. That's how, that's how training works. I'll sub out some workouts. Like I'll probably replace some of my runs, like a power run with an uphill ski. Cause it's all equally taxing on the legs and aerobic system, but that's how it works. I usually train in the morning before work. So I start work a little bit later around nine o'clock, but then also some.

Yeah

Definitely almost every day is a two a day and sometimes I'll do it after work, especially when it's these, with race for example. So tomorrow night I will be biking.

Hey, Kimber, you sound like a little bit of an expert in navigating all the nuances of of athletic as a training platform. What advice would you give to like a newcomer coming into athletic that sometimes feels a little overwhelmed with all the, you know, the potential ultimately that the program has? What advice would you give them?

Mmm.

Ooh,

that's a great question. Now I tried quite a few training plans before finding Athletica and just a shout out to the team. I was trying to decide between two programs before I found Athletica, I won't name names, but I wasn't feeling it with them. And then I found Athletica and after a week I was like, this is it. Because I love the fact that it's so transparent, you know why a plan.

why a change happened to your plan? What is the purpose of the workout? You know, so I love all of that. It definitely can be a little confusing, especially if you don't come from a training background. You know, I've had plans emailed to me for different sports over the years and so can navigate them. I think a couple of things. One is, you know, I've heard this in the podcast a couple of times, but trusting your feeling as well. You know, when I first started with Athletica, it wasn't

ramping me fast enough, which I appreciate that the platform takes a conservative approach, you know, but I know I can handle a ramp because I've done it in the past, right, more of a ramp. And so I was able to, you know, feel that I could go a little farther or a little longer, a little harder. And so, you know, if you feel okay with that, don't, don't go faster, you're supposed to still run slow to go fast. And you're still supposed to have your power sessions and

You know, you're pulling sessions on the swim, but if you need a longer run or a longer bike at those levels, I think, and you can feel it okay, and you're feeling recovered the next day, I think that's hard for people that aren't from a plan background, and they just follow it too rigidly, not understanding that there are some nuances. Once Athletica got, and I think people don't also understand that it may take a few weeks for Athletica to really understand how you're responding to things. It took about a month for me, or maybe six weeks.

which can feel like a really long time that the plan doesn't feel like it's responding. But I think letting people know that it's going to take some time to get used to your own data, I think is really helpful. And then just using the resources, definitely check out the forum, read the FAQs. I think a lot of times, I just did this for a while. I just looked at the training plan and I forgot there are all these really cool charts and...

Hmm.

profiles and whatnot, and I didn't understand workout reserve. so taking the time to read the materials, look at, just click around, like explore, look at the charts and try to understand what's going in behind it and go ask questions on the forum. That was the other thing I really loved about Athletica, or still love, but what got me to choose Athletica is I could ask the core team questions and get answers. It's amazing. Use that.

Yeah,

kudos to MJ and Paul as well. He's a huge contributor to the forum, answering so many of the user's questions. And they're experienced expert coaches. yeah, at least at this point, people that are considering Athletica, you've got those resources with Athletica and we're so lucky.

Yeah.

I remember you joined us for weekly heat sessions and your progress, like you had just come from a knee injury and your FTP like skyrocketed after a weeks. Like every week it was a new, you know, FTP or critical power announcement. Talk to us about...

Thanks

Mm-hmm.

recovering from injury and how, what did you tell yourself and not giving up? Because like you had a lot of injuries and illnesses and a few months of training and you completed Ironman.

my gosh, that was, yeah.

Thank you.

Yeah. man. Yeah,

that was, I call it the year from hell, but honestly it wasn't that bad. It was just one thing after another. One injury, an illness, a surgery, know, like appendicitis and a knee injury and a head concussion. And it was a rough year, but they didn't all happen at once. And so I'd start to see light at the end of the tunnel and be like, okay, I'm going to get back to it. Cause I'm so much happier when I'm training. My, my mind is clear and it just, it just brings happiness. and

It was hard to keep my chin up for a bit, I don't know if any of you, I think you've made references to it, but know, stoicism, not the, people think of as the stoics of just life is hard and you suck it up, being, taking the stoicism, like taking appreciation for what you have, how much worse it could be. Like, you know what? I can still take the dog for a walk. I remember the first time after knee surgery when I walked to the mailbox and back, which is just down the street.

I was so happy, so happy because I'd been locked in the house, right? You just have to take the time to appreciate what you have and think it could be worse. That knee surgery could have gone really badly, but here I am recovering or, you know, I had some heart rate issues as a result of a concussion and I could only ride on the spin bike at a really low heart rate of 75 beats per minute for like a month. Sounds horrible, but hey, I was on the spin bike.

This is great. I could do something. I love this. And then the next, you know, next time you're assessed, I can go to 85 heartbeats per minute. This is great. Like you just have to be in the moment. And, you know, I was spending time with my family. I was able to focus on a new job, without all this, you know, you just have to, you have to find something positive and look forward a little bit, be in the moment, but not dwell on the fact that you're not where you want to go yet. And so yeah.

That was the mindset was just one day at a time. It could be worse. It's slowly getting better. And then once they pulled the shackles off in March or in April, okay, you can spin bike, you can ride. I started riding. And then in May, when I was cleared to run, it's like, okay, I'm good. And when I talk about that I can ramp, you saw that MJ where every race, was like a new FTP. It was amazing. I don't think that's going to happen anymore, but getting back on the horse.

just feeling good and obviously listening to your body. It was great.

And that's, that's some words of wisdom for me, Kimber. It's just like the, you've really, you've packaged up to me the word perspective and in that mindset, right? Like we can all, you can, you can think that glass is half full. You can think the glass is half empty and it's sort of, sort of is within your control, right? In just about anything in life. And yeah, it's crazy. And I think we're all.

Yeah.

Is it bad or good? Yes.

Yes.

Yeah, we're all guilty of going in either sort of side, right? But like, you the number of times when I've been depressed and down about, know, athletic and not going the way I want it to, but then, you know, like sometimes look at, just look at what we've got here and we're building, you know, people like yourselves, Kimber and Paul and Marjaana joining us. And it's just, you know, it's hard not to see the...

Mm-hmm.

the goods that's finally kind of getting there. But it hasn't always been that way for me. But this is just for any lesson in life. So yeah, thanks for that reminder. Perspective is everything. Gratitude, right, is always sort of the better way. And thinking that the glasses, really have, look at all the blessings we have, Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Kind of similarly on that really quick is when things are going good is another time when we tend to slip as well and just take that for granted. I I ran a half iron, I did a half iron man. And then a year later, I wasn't able to do anything. Like it can go quickly. And so being grateful for what we have when the times are good and remembering that and appreciating it and doing what we can to keep it, know, riding those waves every high, there might be a low after and how are you going to prepare for that and handle it?

Hmm.

Yeah, yeah, it's so interesting. You know, I'm almost reflecting on with what you're saying, Kimber, I'm reflecting on some really cool conversations that I had with high performance sport New Zealand in the Olympic program. And they were saying like that, that reflection, it's so often made in these negative outcomes. But like, like, just like you're saying, we should also really reflect on positive outcomes as well, too, right? Like,

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Okay, so what

Yeah.

actually went, why did that go well? you know, because sometimes you'll just dismiss it, right? And just kind of party and celebrate. But it's like, in either case, like you should always be sort of doing that same thing and always kind of reflecting on why you might have got that outcome. Like, what were the pieces of that puzzle that went well or not so well, irrespective of whatever sort of occurrence happened? So I

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm hmm.

You have an incredible story coming from, you know, downhill mountain biking, which is terrifying to watch, by the way. Skeleton, yeah, skeleton too, which is just for some people like me, I, yeah, it's incredible. To taking on endurance challenges.

We'll love it.

Skeleton 2, Marjaana, Skeleton 2.

Yeah, skeleton too.

How has that changed you physically and mentally over the years?

I mean, we kind of talked about it earlier, which is learning the process, you know? When I first started downhilling, was, or mountain biking at all, it was all terrifying. I remember my first time on a mountain bike, my friend was trying to get me to just ride from the side of the highway.

down the little gravel track onto the trail. And it took me like 10 minutes to work up the courage to go down that little tiny, not very steep trail. And it's just, I think all of it is just, it's just a process and patience and trying different things, pushing yourself and surrounding yourself as well with people that will motivate you. You know, they say, if you want to ski faster, ski with people faster than you. You want to ride faster, ride with people faster than you.

finding the right people to motivate you, set a good example, and just put in the time and recognize that your mind is the biggest limiter, pretty much of anything, and just give it a try. And I think that's been the biggest thing. And so when I first started thinking about distance in Half Iron Man or 70.3 and a full, it sounded impossible, but based on my experience, I knew it wasn't impossible.

whole how do eat an elephant one bite at a time. just knowing because I had that background knowing that there is there's a path. If I want to do something, you just have to make a plan and follow the plan and give it a try and kind of adjust from there. I think that's been the biggest thing. I've changed careers twice as a result, not as a result, but kind of related, which would be intimidating to people. This isn't what I studied. I'm kind of scared. But knowing that you can take on a challenge.

is 90 % of the battle and then you just have to put in the effort. I think that's been the biggest thing from all of this is why not try?

So first of all, slow down to go fast is very, very clear that you know, that helped Kimber. love to, she threw in there, know, chop wood, carry water. You sometimes you've got to walk first before you can run. If you're converting yourself.

Thank you.

See you.

soon.

over from like a fast twitch phenotype over to a slow twitch phenotype. And that was her goal. That's what she remembered. That's where she sort of started. She was into the health and longevity thinking here and she's like, okay, I've definitely got the power and strength nailed, but this endurance thing seems to be pretty important too. I better do that. she, again, she figured out a way. She had to slow down first to go fast. Second of all, she also discovered that when she was

to improve her swimming, she really needed to find a swim coach because, rightly so, swimming is more than 50 % efficiency. And just that small investment in a swim coach to improve her technique made all the difference. I loved her talk on thinking versus feeling.

So when you first start on any training program, there's a lot of thinking that has to go on. And specifically, we spoke about Athletica, right? And Athletica is, it's actually quite technical. There's quite a bit of thinking to kind of navigate your way around. But eventually that thinking, and you get these, you you sort of get in the groove, it then transfers over to feeling as the thing that will optimize your, I guess your process moving forward.

Thank you.

you

So that was a really important point that Kimber made. So thinking versus feeling. And last

but not least, and this is for all of us, and I really took this one to heart, is just your perspective and your mindset is so important. anything in your life can be perceived as a negative or you can take gratitude

Thank

on board and take it as a positive. So I really appreciated that.

That one for me personally, Kimber. That's what I have.

you.

Well, thank you, Kimber. We appreciate you coming on board today.

Thank you. It's honored to be here and thanks for everything you do. I love the team and the platform, the results. It's fantastic.

Thank you for exploring the path to peak performance with us today on the Athletes Compass podcast. When you subscribe, you'll ensure that you're always tuned in for your next journey into endurance mindset and performance. And when you share this episode with a friend, teammate, or a coach, you'll be helping them discover new ways to level up their training and life. Take a moment now, subscribe, share, and let's keep navigating this endurance adventure together for...

more information or to schedule a consultation with Paul, Marjaana or me, check the links in the show notes. For Kimber Gabryszak Marjaana Rakai and Dr. Paul Laursen, I am Paul Warloski and this has been the Athletes Compass Podcast. Thank you so much for listening.