This week’s conversation is with Angela Naeth, currently ranked among the top triathletes in the world with 3 sub 9-hour Ironman performances.

Angela is a multiple 70.3 and Ironman Champion and has 30+ podiums at the 70.3 and Ironman distances.

If you’re not familiar with the 70.3, that’s the total distance in miles for what’s considered a half-ironman. A full ironman triathlon is 140+ miles (consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a 26.22-mile marathon run, raced in that order).

In 2018, Angela, while battling Lyme disease, placed 8th at the Ironman World Championships with a time of 8:57, which is just remarkable.

So why compete with Lyme disease – why put her body through something that intense?

For Angela, it’s about using sport as a means to help her better understand herself and discover what she’s capable of, what she’s made of.

It’s about doing it for her own satisfaction rather than trying to appease others, which is something she’s had to work on.

And that’s really what this conversation is all about: discovery and acceptance.

Self-discovery involves testing yourself; that feedback, that information, is part of the process for figuring out who you are.

Self-acceptance involves taking that information and embracing the true nature of it; it’s about getting comfortable in your own skin.

They go hand in hand and Angela has a very eloquent way of describing her process for it— I hope you find ways to apply those lessons.

“Racing is an opportunity. It’s not something I’m clutching onto where I feel like I have to make world championships. These are opportunities in my life to see what I have inside, who I am, how I’m going to learn from it and grow from it.”

In This Episode:

• How her early years shaped her: wasn’t close with her family and it was challenging being the middle child
• Why she gravitated to sports and how it helped her learn about herself
• Feeling isolated from her friends who got into partying which led her to develop an eating disorder
• What she was really craving at that point? Love and connection
• How she learned to love herself: it started with discovery and then acceptance
• The dark side for her: the fear of loneliness and how she’s currently combatting it
• Contracting lyme disease and how that impacted her ability to compete
• What her experience with lyme disease taught her: to be more assertive in all parts of her life
• Breaking down her training regimen
• Her recovery formula: technology, sleep, and nutrition
• How she gets in her own way
• Tapping into the flow state: where does she experience it most?
• What’s allowed her to be great?
• Her driving force: to figure out what she’s capable of
• If she could ask another master of craft one question, who would it be and what would she ask them?
• How she defines mastery