Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais

The Hardest Moments are the Most Rewarding | Endurance Runner, Shalane Flanagan

Mar 16, 2022

Shalane Flanagan, an American endurance legend and 4x Olympian, shares her inspiring journey from elite athlete to motherhood, highlighting the joy of running and personal growth. She discusses her incredible challenge of completing six major marathons in six weeks, emphasizing mental resilience and motivation. Shalane opens up about balancing athletic aspirations with personal life, handling body image issues, and the vital importance of recovery and community support. It's a heartfelt conversation that encourages listeners to embrace hard moments for personal growth.

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ANECDOTE

Parents' Athletic Background

Shalane Flanagan's parents, both world-class runners, met at the World Cross Country Championships.
Her mother held the world record for the women's marathon, a pioneering feat for women's athletics.

ADVICE

Embrace Well-Roundedness and Losing

Delay specializing in one sport for as long as possible to develop well-rounded skills and learn to appreciate diverse challenges.
Embrace losing in different areas; it builds resilience and character that can be applied to your true strengths.

INSIGHT

Family Ethos

Shalane's family ethos prioritized happiness, fulfillment, and the joy of pushing limits rather than solely focusing on achievement.
This approach allowed her to embrace running with a sense of playfulness and discover her potential without the weight of expectations.

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This week’s conversation is with Shalane Flanagan, an American endurance legend, being one of the few distance runners to earn first-name recognition rights.

Shalane's remarkable career spans nearly 20 years… she’s a 4x Olympian (Athens, Beijing, London and Rio), becoming an Olympic medalist in Beijing.

She’s a New York City Marathon champion, where she was the first American woman to win it since 1977.

After retiring from professional running in 2019, Shalane underwent two knee reconstruction surgeries, started a new coaching career and became a mom, all while navigating the realities of a global pandemic.

In 2021, she undertook a personal mission: Project Eclipse – to run six major marathons in a span of six weeks - as a way to reclaim her love for the sport of running and to bolster her mental and physical health.

Shalane also took on the challenge as a way to inspire others to rise up in the face of their own struggles. She completed all six, including the major races Berlin, London, Chicago, Boston and New York City, in a time of under 2:50, with the fastest and final New York City marathon in only 2:33.

Shalane’s career has been extraordinary so far, and is still far from over. After hearing this conversation, I think you’ll be inspired to go and “do the hard things” in your life as well.

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