Tough Girl Podcast Amy Palmiero-Winters - Extreme Ultra Endurance Athlete and first female amputee to finish Western States and the Badwater Ultramarathon!
Nov 19, 2020
01:10:36
Amy is a professional athlete, career-woman, mother and the founder of the One Step Ahead Foundation. After losing her left leg below the knee due to a motorcycle accident that occurred in 1994, Amy compiled a tremendous portfolio of world records and firsts for a female amputee in marathons, ultramarathons, triathlons, and ultra-triathlons. As she attained more and more achievements, she found herself in the position of being a role model, especially for young people with physical disabilities of their own. She soon found herself working extensively with children, introducing them to sports and athletics as a way of helping them overcome their physical limitations. After several years, Amy founded the One Step Ahead Foundation in order to provide even more opportunities for children with physical disabilities. In 2011, Amy became the first female amputee to finish the Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile course starting at 282 feet below sea level in the Badwater Basin, in California's Death Valley, and ending at an elevation of 8360 feet (2548 m) at Whitney Portal, the trail head to Mount Whitney. In February 2014, Amy completed Ultraman Florida. This performance during the 6.2 mile swim, 261.4 mile Bike and 52.4 mile run earned her yet another world record for female para-athletes. Later that same year, Amy was the first para-athlete to complete the 2014 Obstacle Racing World Championships, a mandatory obstacle completion format, earning her second place in her age group. As an AGOGE and two time Death Race Finisher, Summer 2014 and Summer 2018, Amy continues to push the boundaries of what is perceived as a limit. Durning the 2018 Death Race, 36 hours into the event after countless miles, task and 3500 burpees, Amy set the longest distance crawled under barbed wire for 12 consecutive hours for both female and para-athletes. New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday and Thursday at 7am UK time - Make sure you hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss out. The tough girl podcast is sponsorship and ad free thanks to the monthly financial support of patrons. To find out more about supporting your favourite podcast and becoming a patron please check out www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast. Show notes
- Growing up and loving the outdoors
- Playing outside all day, everyday
- How running became a big part of her life
- How running was an equaliser
- Not taking anything seriously
- The next steps after high school
- Getting a scholarship
- Dropping out of college and getting a full time job to support herself
- Deciding to run a marathon
- Running her first marathon in 3hrs 24 mins….
- Qualifying for the Boston Marathon
- Starting to run longer distances
- Getting hit by a car and fighting to save her leg for 3 years
- Being worries about losing her job
- Having her leg amputated at 21 years old
- Not being able to afford counselling
- 10 years to find the right prosthetic leg for her
- Running the Chicago Marathon in 2006
- Being given a second chance
- A step A head Prosthetics
- "What do you want to do with your life?”
- Having a goal to run 100 miles
- Believe
- Helping to get someone else through the marathon
- The journey of getting to run 100 miles
- Having trouble breathing while running fast miles
- Running at a slower pace for longer distances
- Becoming a Mighty Mum and doing her first obstacle race
- Wanting to run at Western States in California and be the first athlete with an prosthetic to cross the finish line
- Managing pain and dealing with pain
- The recovery process after big races
- Working full time (60-70 hrs per week), with 6 children aged from 9 years old to 18 years old
- Helping other people to achieve their goals
- Beta-alanine Supplement
- Being a single mum to two children
- What training looks like
- Running on a treadmill versus running on the road
- Final words of advice to motivate and inspire you