Hurdle

About 0.5 percent of the U.S. population runs a full marathon. Zero. Point. Five. Which means that if you’re listening to this week’s #hurdlemoment and you’ve either decided to run a marathon or you’re considering it, that’s pretty rad. Seven marathons down, I’m now a certified run coach with a fair share of experience under my belt. I’ve been getting loads of questions about the process, so this week I’m offering up 7 essential things every marathoner should know heading into a new training cycle. Spoiler alert: things are going to go wrong, and you’re going to be just fine. SOCIAL @hurdlepodcast @emilyabbate

The FIFA Women's World Cup starts this week (!!) so it felt like an appropriate time to share my conversation with U.S. Soccer Women’s National Team co-captain Alex Morgan. On episode 59, the California native and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover star talks me through what it’s like coming back from devastating injury, and she shares what it’s like to serve as such an outstanding role model for so many across the globe. Special thanks to Secret for making this conversation possible, thanks to their #allstrengthnosweat campaign.  SOCIAL@alexmorgan13@uswnt@hurdlepodcast@emilyabbate OFFERS Athletic Greens | Head to athleticgreens.com/hurdle to get 20 free travel packs ($79 value) with your first purchase, no code necessary.

Sometimes we all need to take a step back and evaluate. Feel like you’re stressed lately? Is something missing? Are you constantly frustrated? Hey, I’ve been there. One way to feel better: analyzing and committing to your priorities. In today’s #hurdlemoment, I chat about Health-Ade CEO Daina Trout’s “bucket theory” (originally discussed in episode 49), and offer up a simple, 15-minute strategy to living every day with intention. Good news: By the end of this episode, you’ll be checking something off your to-do list that’s been there for way too long. SOCIAL @hurdlepodcast @emilyabbate

Kelly Ripa. Alicia Keys. Karlie Kloss. The powerhouse behind dance based cardio fitness and wellness brand AKT, celebrity trainer Anna Kaiser has some pretty impressive clientele. These days, she's on the brink of opening 300 new studios nationwide, but she’s overcome a lot of hurdles to get here. In episode 58, she tells me about her pivot into the fitness industry after an impressive career as a professional dancer, and how one of her first teaching jobs landed her in the hospital. She offers up must-hear advice about following your passions, tells me a hilarious story about her first time training one of her favorite A-listers, and isn’t afraid to get real about the hardships of building her business from the ground up. SOCIAL @theannakaiser @theaktstudios @hurdlepodcast @emilyabbate OFFERS Athletic Greens | Head to athleticgreens.com/hurdle to get 20 free travel packs ($79 value) with your first purchase, no code necessary.

Invest in yourself. Let the past be the past. Silence is golden. In today’s #hurdlemoment, I’m offering up a little bit of wisdom in honor of my June 2 birthday. Cue 30 different lessons I learned by the end of my thirtieth year. FYI: I don’t have all the answers (and never will), but something tells me you may want to have a notepad handy. SOCIAL @hurdlepodcast @emilyabbate

He was given a 30 percent chance of living. Suffering burns to 75 percent of his body, this was nothing that Omar “Crispy” Avila imagined when he joined the U.S. Army as an infantryman in 2004. On May 14, 2007, his life forever changed when his vehicle drove over a 200-pound, deeply-buried IED. In episode 57, the Purple Heart recipient gives the intense details of that experience and talks about how he came back from the unthinkable losing his right leg in the process, not only surviving—but thriving—as a Paralympic powerlifter and public speaker. He tells me about finding fitness at the right time in his life, leaving behind some bad influences and embracing a community that he’s so thankful to be a part of. On this Memorial Day, I’m grateful for my time with Omar, thankful for both his sacrifice in honor of our country and the other service members across the U.S. SOCIAL @crispy11b @hurdlepodcast @emilyabbate OFFERS Athletic Greens | Head to athleticgreens.com/hurdle to get 20 free travel packs ($79 value) with your first purchase, no code necessary.

I knew absolutely nothing about podcasts when I decided that I wanted to create one. It’s been a wild ride, but I’d like to think that after 18 months of recording, I know a thing or two about starting one of these from scratch. In today’s #hurdlemoment, I share some insight into exactly what being a podcaster entails, including the total time commitment, equipment I use, and how to get your show on popular platforms like iTunes and Spotify. Fact is, you only get to be a beginner once—but if you do it right, once is enough. SOCIAL @hurdlepodcast @emilyabbate

Spend 5 minutes with Sjana Elise Earp, and it’ll feel as though she’s your new best friend. The warm, welcoming yogi brings her kind, bubbly personality to her more-than 1.6 million Instagram followers daily. But life hasn’t always been sun salutations and smiles. She had a really tough time as a teenager growing up in at home in Australia. From the outside looking in, things seemed idyllic, but she was dealing with severe depression that got so bad by age 16, that she even attempted suicide. In episode 56, we talk about the #hurdlemoment that landed her in the hospital, how she got the help she needed to deal with the disease, and soon leaned into journaling and moving her body to move forward. Earp tells me about how yoga helped save her from depression, we chat imposter syndrome, and she confesses how she shifted her relationship with social media from obsessive to healthy (spoiler: she still reads all her comments). SOCIAL @sjanaelise @hurdlepodcast @emilyabbate OFFERS Athletic Greens | Head to athleticgreens.com/hurdle to get 20 free travel packs ($79 value) with your first purchase, no code necessary.

Sometimes, hitting a workout feels great. Other times, it feels like climbing Mount Everest. I’ve come a long way from my time despising fitness back in college, now finding some way to move my body every single day. For the moments that feel hard, use these motivational strategies to get you going. SOCIAL @hurdlepodcast @emilyabbate

Chat with Kenny Santucci and you’ll immediately realize a few things: he’s clearly from Jersey, got an affinity for fitness, and a no BS sort of guy. These days, the former reality star is spending his days coaching and running operations at Solace, a New York City gym offering everything from CrossFit to yoga classes. But just over 15 years ago, as a high school freshman, Santucci tipped the scale at over 225 pounds. In episode 55, we talk about how picking up wrestling helped him shed the weight and develop some essential confidence, which propelled him all the way to traveling the world for MTV. We talk about the post-filming #hurdlemoment that had Santucci living out of his car, the recent family struggles that have shaped him into being a better son, friend, and business partner, and how he’s managed to turn his passions into his full-time, dream career. SOCIAL @kennysantucci @solacenewyork @hurdlepodcast @emilyabbate OFFERS Athletic Greens | Head to athleticgreens.com/hurdle to get 20 free travel packs ($79 value) with your first purchase, no code necessary.

You can be whoever you want to be if you’re willing to put in the work. And while being your own boss can be a blast, it also comes with a fair share of challenges. For the past couple years, I’ve been building a brand from the ground up and learning what it truly means to be an entrepreneur. I don’t have all of the answers and often feel like I’m totally winging this thing, but I’ve learned a TON in the process. In this week’s #hurdlemoment, I’m chatting the highs and lows of entrepreneurship and offer a few smart strategies for starting something from scratch. SOCIAL @hurdlepodcast @emilyabbate

Let me tell you: Leila Janah is unlike anyone I’ve ever met. She’s compassionate, bold, and a total powerhouse leading up two large (very different) companies, united by a common social mission to end global poverty by giving work to people in need. As a busy founder and CEO, she’s under intense stress all the time. In 2017, she logged nearly 500,000 miles and 44 days (!!) in the air. Then, an unexpected #hurdlemoment happened. She was at a conference in Helsinki that December when she felt a pain in her abdomen and was rushed to the ER. Doctors told her if she had not had an emergency surgery, she would have died. Post-surgery, she developed an infection, was hospitalized for two weeks, and once she was out—leaned into her relationships and love for kite surfing to help her recover. In episode 54, she gives some insight as to what life’s like in some of the world’s poorest countries, and we chat about how she manages it all while making time for her most valuable relationships. Emily’s note: since recording episode, Leila announced that she has a rare but treatable form of cancer called epithelioid sarcoma. Please, send Leila your well-wishes and support on Instagram (@leilajanah). SOCIAL @leilajanah @samasource @lxmioffical @hurdlepodcast @emilyabbate OFFERS Athletic Greens | Head to athleticgreens.com/hurdle to get 20 free travel packs ($79 value) with your first purchase, no code necessary.

We all have this idea in our head of what it’s going to take to be happy. Maybe it’s a dream apartment, that perfect job, or ideal partner. But the truth is that happiness starts from within. In today’s #hurdlemoment, I share my six tried-and-true habits for happier living—some of which have gotten me through even my toughest days. Make sure to shoot me a DM or an email to emily@hurdle.us and let me know what yours are, too! SOCIAL @hurdlepodcast @emilyabbate

When Paddy Spence lost his brother unexpectedly in 1995, his entire world changed. He pivoted jobs, decided to give up sugar (and hasn’t looked back since), and re-evaluated the “important” things in life. In episode 53, the Zevia CEO talks about this #hurdlemoment’s drastic impact on his wellbeing, the research on diet soda consumption in the U.S., and we swap stories about endurance racing (spoiler alert: his are a tad more intense than mine). SOCIAL @zevia @hurdlepodcast @emilyabbate OFFERS Athletic Greens | Head to athleticgreens.com/hurdle to get 20 free travel packs ($79 value) with your first purchase, no code necessary.

The beginning of 2019 was a little rough for me. To everyone else, it looked like I was living my best life. Traveling from Spain and Paris to Austin and Los Angeles; working hard and living it up. I was struggling. Being on-the-go constantly made it hard for me to keep up with my healthy habits, and I fell into somewhat of a rut. As a result, I realized in early March that I wasn’t proud of how I was talking to myself. In today's #hurdlemoment, I open up about that struggle and how I got through it. I share with you the four strategies I used to shift the dialogue, eliminate negative self talk, and get back to being the Emily that I love. The Emily that’s proud of the woman she’s become, and accepts that every day is a work in progress. SOCIAL @hurdlepodcast @emilyabbate