Breakthrough Habit Fix - with Your Host Solo. Karen Bonnett-Natraj

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Hello, everybody. Welcome back to Running Strong Mind Body Connection Podcast on your

host, Karen Bonayna Trash. And today's episode is going to be just a little bit different.

So usually I'm interviewing incredible runners or athletes and all sorts of holistic people,

healthy people, and whatever people cross my path that can give value to my audience.

And today I just want to sit down with you and talk about something personal to me. So you guys

get to know me a little bit better. So excitingly enough, I'm approaching episode number 90 of this

podcast. When I get to number 100, I am going to be celebrating with you. And I've been

reflecting on how this journey started and why I created the show and why connection through

athletics means so much to me. Connection with people all over the world means a lot to me.

Connection is one of my strongest values. And that's why I find some really different people

that are on this podcast. As for example, in a coming up episode, this guy was a tennis player,

but I come across such amazing people and I'm so excited to bring it to you.

I receive, you know, running and endurance sports changed my life, not just physically but mentally

and emotionally, of course, right? And that's what this podcast is really about, the mind body

connection. And that allows ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary things.

You know, I'd never started as an athlete, definitely not professional, but I'd never started

my life as an athlete. I started my life with that sense of adventure. I lived in

Covina and behind our 5,000 square foot house was Rolling Hills. And I just loved it. And that was

my sense of adventure. I rode my bike as a kid. We used to ride our bikes down the hill so we

can get a ride back up to the home by the postman who would think of that or anybody doing that today.

Nobody, right? But I had this amazing sense of adventure. I used to crawl over the Bob Wire fence.

And I have scars to prove it to just go wander off on the hills and then I come home and get

grounded. And then I go do it again and I come home and get grounded. Hilarious, right? But

so many people, I never, in that day and age, I never learned how to run. I knew I had to ride a

bike, right? That's easy to do. But I never learned the technique of running. Now my younger brother

dated because he was in track and field, Paul Bonet. And he's on an earlier podcast early in my season.

So I remember riding, I actually, this it was, it was in 2000. We were coming up to the year 2000

and I rode my bike all over the world. I've ridden Bervets, I've ridden 1200 Ks, I've rid

hundreds of thousand miles on my bike. And I girlfriend and I saw it, oh, let's run. Let's run

the CIM. Let's run the marathon. Well, that was that, that was the turning point of, okay,

let's go run. I'm going to go out, I'm going to start running. I ran a mile and it was horrible,

absolutely horrible. What was I thinking? That was the silliest thing I've ever done.

But I did it and I told myself, I'm going to run until I love it because we were going to run

a marathon. So that first marathon was four hours and 51 minutes and she and I just trained together.

And it was just, I was in tears when I finished. I couldn't believe I actually ran a marathon,

26.2 miles. What was I thinking? Well, so I then I started doing more and more

marathons and then I got with this crazy group of people called Acme Running Club and we were all

given an animal name and I was Cooper. But someone said, let's run a 50k. Then someone said,

let's run a 50 mile. Then someone said, let's run 100 miles. And so there you go. I'd become

100 mile athlete, met my husband after that. So I was riding long distance. I'm running, running

long distance and seeing if I could do it and I could do it. We can do it. When we set our mind

up to anything, we can do it. And I was inspired by other people. Just like I'm hoping I inspire

you as well. If you're listening to this and you're not a runner, you don't have to run 100 miles.

But health was one of my biggest values. It was keeping my body healthy, keeping my bodies

strong. And prior to any of this running, I used to lift weights in the gym because I was going to

raise three children by myself and I needed to be strong for them. At least I felt I needed to be

strong for them. So I've actually ran. I've biked hundreds of thousands of miles. I've done 15

iron man. I have, I don't know, 50 plus 100 mile runs under my belt. I'm not counting the 200s

that I've done it across the years or the 140 on Route 66. So but I'm doing it and I find it amazing

as I get older. The inspiration that stills and the motivation that stays with me. And I invite

that to all of, I invite that energy for all of you. So Western States, you know, you know my

story of 2017 Western States. I was on AJ's podcast. A lot of people talked about me, a lot of

you posted about it. So that was definitely the mindset. And I didn't even think I could be an

athlete. I didn't grow up being an athlete. So but I had the curiosity. I had the curiosity.

And that's what matters is as a child, don't we have curiosity in our childhood? As a kid, we were

curious about this today. I was curious about those hills. What was the other side of that hill?

I wanted to go see, you know, I'd go out and do five miles and not think anything of it. Today we

did all this preparation going and we have to have all these shoes and things that do five miles,

10 miles, 20 miles, a marathon and on and on. So it's being curious. That's one of our childhood

memories is being curious in life. And I listened to people's stories and I was curious about that.

That's what motivated me to get into this. And now I'm curious about how my body recovers.

And so I've even taken on back to back 100 miles. I come and run Havelina 100, which I'm going

to be doing. I've done that 15 times. But when I was at number eight, I went back to California

and ran Rio de Lago back to back weekends, seeing if I could do it. The curiosity of recovery,

the curiosity of my abilities, the curiosity of my physical being. And when we stay in that

that limelight of curiosity, life opens up. It opens up for us. And so I invite you to bring

curiosity into your life. So because what else is there to do? And so we normally have those

in critics, you know, I remember on Western states in 2017, I remember looking at my watch and

and judging my pace and scared I wasn't going to make it and knew by my pace, I wasn't going to

make it until I let it go. And so that was judging my pace, that was judging me, that was judging.

And so when we let that negative talk go and I was in the journey, that's when life opened up.

And so we have all those in our critics, we have all those sabotaging thoughts and behaviors

that keep us fit in that fear, fear-based mode. And so many athletes do that. So many athletes

quit because I think I'm never going to make it. But how do you know? How do you know if you're

never going to make it if you give up? You don't know. And it's amazing how we can go through those

ups and downs in a race. And it always comes out just how it's supposed to. For every bad situation

is a good, for every good situation is a bad. And the model goes, nothing lasts forever. Everything's

temporary. Every moment is temporary. So we can't judge that we're not going to make it, you know,

if it's two o'clock in the morning and you're going so darn slow, that's okay. Because you're tired,

it's two o'clock in the morning, some people don't do well at night. I do because I'm always a

Fred and I'm not going to make it. But I always do because I'm resilient, I'm persistent,

I'm curious. But so many people don't. And it's amazing how the mind works and your body

clock works. So you can go through that low period and then you'll come out of it when day breaks,

it's amazing. You're all of a sudden a new person and how fast can you run? And so it's being in

the why, why are you doing what you do? Why do I want to run 100 miles? Because I just think that

venture is beyond any other thing. We could spend all day out in nature and how good is that?

There's so many moments that in our 100 miles, in our events, in our runs, in our biking,

in our triathlons, we have those moments of, you know, everything just wants to stop. Your body

hurts, this hurts, that hurts. But when you continually think about that, you keep perpetuating

that feeling and you focus on that. Our legs may hurt, our stomach might pick it up,

said, you're going to get tired, your mind starts whispering, all these things, oh, why can't do this?

I'm not strong enough. I should just quit. But no, these are the voices of your saboteurs.

These are the voices of that inner critic thinking, you're going to keep you small,

keep you small. And that's not who we are. So in the mental fitness world is learning how to

recognize those voices and shift your focus and return to the present moment. And looking at my watch

and judging my pace and putting myself down that I'm never going to be fast enough and saying,

forget that. Enjoy the sound of the river of being in nature and just be on the journey. And if

I didn't shift that, I would never have been finishing with nine seconds. And no, we wouldn't

have been faster. Because when you're in the present moment, there's something powerful that

happens. You stop fighting the race. You stop fighting yourself. You start moving through it

and being in the moment. And that's powerful. Even when your legs are hurting or you're tired,

I'm going to go more with your legs or your feet hurting. Because if you can just ignore that

and stop focusing on that. And there's a great example that's happened to me when I come

upon somebody. We start talking. It's amazing how all of my feet don't start or how

my feet aren't hurting anymore or my legs aren't tired. It's just amazing how we can have that

energy. And that's actually being in the present moment because I stopped focusing on what was

wrong with me. And do it. Take that moment and do it. This this lesson can apply to every part

of your life. It can impact your career. It can impact your relationships. It impacts every

aspect of your life. And that's mental fitness isn't just for athletes. It's for us being the best

version of ourselves. It's you being the best version of you. You sign up for a race. You sign up

for an event. You're going to do a board meeting, whatever. You do it because you have a why behind

that. What is your why? Why are you doing the things you do? And if you don't know,

you're welcome to get on a discovery call with me. I'll post it in the show notes on YouTube.

But it's really knowing our why and our purpose. And my why is my sense of adventure and

the health of my body. And I'm just thrilled where I'm at in my life right now that my body still

performs phenomenally. And I'm in extreme health. Extremely good health. Because I'm not fighting

it in the races anymore. I'm not fighting that judging myself anymore. I'm taking on that

curiosity of a kid and bringing that into my life. So what is my next event? That curiosity of

running 250 miles, co-codone at 250. I will post a podcast after that. So the other reason for

running this podcast is because I remember when I, why did I want to? And it took me a year to

start it because I had that inner critic going, well, am I going to talk about what's going to have?

Who wants to be on my podcast? It took me a year because I was in my own sabotaging thought

process. But I thought, you know, there's so many men running podcasts for athletes. And they

talk to all the big top runners. And I love listening to them. But there's not a woman who does a

podcast for runners who's in that 95% group. And that's where I'm at. And so it's our stories.

It's knowing our stories because when I finished with nine seconds, the only thing you saw was

me finishing nine seconds, a hundred mile race. But what went on there? It's the journey that goes

on on those races that are the stories that are inspiring others to step out of their comfort zone.

And I invite you to join me, message me, email me. Let's get you on my podcast. So let's hear

your story because stories matter. The mid-packed runners matter. The brand new runners matter.

That first marathoner matters because these are people going out of their comfort zone

and taking on something they never imagined they could do. And that's exactly what I did.

Who would think? Who would have thought I would have been a hundred mile runner in where I'm at

in life? I wasn't even an athlete in high school. But I had that adventure, that sense of adventure

when I was a kid. So the other thing that I love doing this podcast is because I'm connecting with

people. I'm, I connect with people on runs. I'm like, hey, I start chatting with them and

learn who they are. Do you want to be on a podcast? It's my sense of connection. I get to learn,

I get to meet so many amazing people. And I get to share it with you as well.

So there's one thing that that is one of my biggest values in life and that's connection.

It might look like an individual sport, but really our accomplishments about being a big endurance

goals, we're not alone. We're together, we're connected because we have crews, we have

paces, we have friends, we have mentors, we have all these people that are backing us. And even if

you think you're alone, when you get out on one of those races, you're around all these people.

And that's so much fun because we're a nature and we have all those people.

So I have a couple of, I've been able to connect. So remember connections, my strongest value,

I've been able to connect to a couple of really great

affiliates. Affiliate is somebody who I can promote on my website and give my guess a 15% discount.

So my one affiliate, he's the brother of the RD for Western States, Chris Thornley,

and he's the owner of Squirrel Nut Butter. So if you're an endurance athlete, but even an athlete,

anybody, you know those small things that can make a huge difference over long distances,

a marathon, even a 10k. So one of the products I personally rely on is Squirrel's Nut Butter.

This is for runners, cyclists, and endurance athletes. Shafing is a major issue.

Men and women and Squirrel Nut Butter is an all natural anti-shafing solution that helps you

protect your skin during long events, training sessions, and races. It's made with simple

ingredients and that's what attracted me the most and has become a staple for many endurance

athletes. One of the things I love about Squirrel Nut Butter is the ingredients of their product

is natural. I love that. So I will have an affiliate link. I will post in the show notes

for Squirrel Nut Butter for you to get 15% off your purchase. Okay, the next one is Vespa Fuel.

Now in 2015, I was introduced to Vespa and I was introduced to two things. Vespa

was second, but first was the Grand Slam. And I was like, what's the Grand Slam? So I was in Western

States. That's obviously. And somebody said, hey, Karen, why don't you do the Grand Slam? I'm like,

what is that? And so I ran Western States. I ran Vermont. I ran Leadville and I started the run

for Wasatch. Oh, but between Vermont and Leadville, I did that Boulder Iron Man and I got a

sloped Tacona. That was the most exciting thing ever. That's another story in itself. But anyway,

Wasatch. I was in the top of my game. I was in the best shape ever. I used Vespa Fuel and

all these all these events. And I recovered really fast. And that's the first time I've ever

done back to back hundreds per se over a few weeks and within a three month, June, July, August

and September month. And plus training for Iron Man. And I at no fault of anybody,

but I was 10 miles into the run and just having the time of my life. And I stepped in the hole

and the trail collapsed. And I fractured my ankle. I fractured the bone on the outside of my ankle.

Plus had a high ankle spring. But I didn't tear any tendons. But it put me out.

Unhappily so. But Vespa is designed to support fat metabolizing during endurance events,

helping athletes maintain that steady energy without relying solely on sugar based fuels.

So many ultra runners use it as part of their race nutrition to help sustain performance

during lasting distance efforts. So when you're out there for hours, sometimes days, fueling

matters. I am at an affiliate for Vespa. You get 15% off. I don't know if you'll remember this,

but it's the you can you can go to Vespa and put in a coupon code mental fitness edge 15.

And when you buy your Vespa. And I highly recommend it. I'm using it again this year.

And I'm affiliate with them and ambassador with them. And I am using it through my training

races as well as coconut 250. So I'm super super excited to be part of this team and go for

nutrition and squirrel nut butter. You guys will have the link in the show notes. So

if there's one thing I hope listeners take away from this podcast, it's this. You are capable of

more than what you think you are. The biggest limits we face are often the ones inside of our own

minds. So when you train your mind the way you train your body incredible things become possible.

And that's what running strong mind body connection is all about. It's stories are resilience,

stories of courage, stories of everyday people stepping into extraordinary challenges.

And I'm always so inspired by the people that are on my podcast and the stories they share.

And I hope you are as well. So thank you for being part of this journey as we approach

as I'm approaching episode 90. I'm so grateful for this community and connection. So we've

created together. I'm just thrilled with everything we have here. And if this podcast has inspired

you, share it with a friend who needs to remind you that they are stronger than what they think.

So until next time, keep running strong. Thank you for everything. Go to the YouTube channel,

please subscribe and like this episode. I will see you everybody. I will see all of you

in my next episode. So thank you.