Podcasts about Challenged Athletes Foundation

On this episode, IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon hosts a re-airing of a fireside chat with Vincent Luis and Paula Findlay, two top Professional Triathletes, at the Purple Patch Performance Center in San Francisco. The Night of Champions event supports the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which provides opportunities for individuals with physical challenges. Vincent and Paula discuss their journeys, handling pressure, and adversity. Vincent shares his experiences at the Olympics, including his struggles and the resilience he demonstrated. Paula talks about her career, including her success at Daytona and her plans for future races. Both emphasize the importance of coaching and mentorship in their careers. The event raised $14,000 for the Challenge Athletes Foundation. If you have any questions about the Purple Patch program, feel free to reach out at info@purplepatchfitness.com.   Purple Patch and Episode Resources DONATE TO CHALLENGED ATHLETES FOUNDATION HERE: https://give.challengedathletes.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.event&eventID=570 Challenges Athletes Foundation: website - challengedathletes.org Instagram - @cafoundation T100: website - t100triathlon.com Instagram - @t100triathlon Vincent Luis: Instagram - @vincentluistri Paula Findlay: Instagram - @paula_findlay Bob Babbitt: Instagram - @babbittville Check out our world-class coaching and training options: Tri Squad: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/squad 1:1 Coaching: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/11-coached Run Squad: https://www.purplepatchfitness/com/run-squad Strength Squad: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/strength-1 Live & On-Demand Bike Sessions: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/bike  Explore our training options in detail: https://bit.ly/3XBo1Pi  Live in San Francisco? Explore the Purple Patch Performance Center: https://center.purplepatchfitness.com Everything you need to know about our methodology: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/our-methodology Amplify your approach to nutrition with Purple Patch + Fuelin https://www.fuelin.com/purplepatch Get access to our free training resources, insight-packed newsletter and more at purplepatchfitness.com  

“I call my age group the 70 to death—and we show up early, because we still can. If you want to feel young, hang out with people chasing PRs, not prescriptions.”Bob Babbitt has raced more than 300 triathlons, co-founded Competitor magazine, helped popularize the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series, and has spent decades spotlighting athletes of all abilities through storytelling.At 73, he's still training, still racing, and still waking up at 5:30 a.m. for his morning cold plunge.But this episode isn't just about endurance sports. It's about how movement, community, and a willingness to reinvent yourself can keep you young—physically, mentally, and emotionally.We dive into:The chaotic, hilarious origins of Ironman (including Big Macs and boomboxes)How triathlon went from fringe to global by aligning with city economicsDaily habits Bob swears by for recovery, clarity, and energyWhat the “70 to death” age group can teach us about aging wellThe work of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and how sport empowers identityWhether you're an athlete, entrepreneur, or just someone thinking about how to age on your own terms—this one will stay with you.

Send us a textOn today's episode of 515 The Ultra Podcast, we're joined by a true legend.  Bob Babbitt is the voice behind one of the most celebrated radio programs and podcasts in endurance sports – Competitor Radio and Breakfast with Bob.He is also a visionary community builder as a co-founder of Competitor Magazine and the Challenged Athletes Foundation.His impact on the sport is undeniable, earning him inductions into both the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame and the Ironman Hall of Fame. Find Bob Babbitt on social media:Website - babbittville.comTwitter: Bob BabbittFacebook: Bob BabbittInstagram: - Bob BabbittYouTube: Bob Babbitt videosResources mentioned in this episode:Competitor MagazineChallenged Athletes FoundationUSA Triathlon Hall of FameIronman Hall of FameBabbittvilleTugs Tavern Swin RunTugs Hall of FameABC Wide World of SportsRunning and Triathlon NewsCompetitor RadioMuddy Buddy Ride and Run SeriesCompetitor GroupRock and Roll MarathonsTriathlete MagazineWomen's Running MagazineMighty 690 RadioIronman St George Ironman Canada Ironman 70.3 World ChampionshipsChallenge DaytonaDanskin Triathlon SeriesChallenged Athletes FoundationOrange County Performing ArtsCenter Triathlon Tinley SportswearChallenge Bike RIdeCAF GalaTeam USA Paralympics Sportscenter Fundraise Your Way for CAFNikeToyotaEOS fitnessUM AustraliaIronman Oceanside 70.3 Ironman Pro SeriesProfessional Triathletes OrganisationT100Super League Challenge FamilyChallenge RothWe are Triathletes – Film IM Nice World ChampionshipsIM Kona WOrld ChampionshipsShout outs and mentions in this episode:Ned Overend Tom WarrenGordan HallerDave ScottDave McGillivrayKurt MaddenJohn Huckabee Lois SchwartzMark AllenPaula Newby FraserWill FerrellRod DixonLance ArmstrongSkye MoenchGraham FraserMark BurnettJim RyunKip KeinoDavid EppersonJelle GeensMenno KoolhaasMagnus Ditlev Daniela RyfMichellie JonesGreg RorkeKatie KellyJulie DerronJan FrodenoThomas HellriegelGreg WelchJim MacLaren Jeffrey EssakowRick KozlowskiJim KnaubLauren ParkerDeborah JacksonDesmond JacksonParker BergJJ Reader Scott MolinaKurt Madden (S5E3)Curtis TylarJane Bockus (S1E4)Heidi Support the showShow Contributors:Host : Larry RyanContributing Raconteur : Steve KingAnnouncer : Mary Jo DionneProduction : 5Five EnterprisesMusic : Run by 331 For show notes and past guests, please visit the Podcast Website: https://515theultrapodcast.buzzsprout.comFacebook: @515TheUltraPodcastInsta : @515theultrapodcastYoutube : @515TheUltraPodcastEmail : 515Ultraman@gmail.com

Welcome to the Purple Patch Podcast! On this episode IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon highlights the achievements of Purple Patch in 2024, including qualifying over 50 athletes for world championships with an average weekly training of 10.6 hours, and 30 athletes for the Boston Marathon using a multi-sport approach. The organization also launched a leadership program, added new team members, and introduced the Performance Hub for better community engagement. Key events included a fundraiser for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, a team race in Santa Cruz, and transformative camps in Hawaii, Napa, and Greenville. Notable athlete achievements featured Jeff Dolan and Susie Orca qualifying for multiple world championships, and Jake, CEO of Fellow Products, excelling in various endurance events. Dixon sets the stage for a fun and reflective episode, highlighting 24 key things that happened to Purple Patch in 2024. He emphasizes the importance of reflection for high performers and the lessons learned throughout the year. Matt shares his personal reflections as the leader at Purple Patch, discussing the organization's accomplishments and challenges. He encourages listeners to start planning their performance goals for 2025 and mentions the proven coaching programs available at Purple Patch. Matt Dixon reflects on the history of Purple Patch pros, highlighting the journey from coaching professional athletes to developing a high-performance culture.   Purple Patch and Episode Resources   Check out our world-class coaching and training options: Tri Squad: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/squad 1:1 Coaching: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/11-coached Run Squad: https://www.purplepatchfitness/com/run-squad Strength Squad: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/strength-1 Live & On-Demand Bike Sessions: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/bike   Explore our training options in detail: https://bit.ly/3XBo1Pi   Live in San Francisco? Explore the Purple Patch Performance Center: https://center.purplepatchfitness.com   Everything you need to know about our methodology: https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/our-methodology   Amplify your approach to nutrition with Purple Patch + Fuelin https://www.fuelin.com/purplepatch   Get access to our free training resources, insight-packed newsletter and more at purplepatchfitness.com  

Let us know how you're enjoying the show or ideas for any future topics!In this inspiring episode, Zach McCrary shares his incredible story of resilience after a life-changing workplace accident that resulted in the loss of both of his legs. Zach opens up about his recovery journey, from navigating the physical and emotional challenges of the accident, to his experiences with surgeries, prosthetics, and adjusting to life as a double amputee. He also discusses his transformative journey into sled hockey, and how the sport has played a pivotal role in his recovery, fueling his dream of one day competing in the Paralympics.Zach discusses his experience in the workers' compensation system, and transition to Ametros as a CareGuard member. As a dad of three boys, Zach's story is one of strength, perseverance, and the unbreakable bond of family. Join us for this powerful conversation about overcoming life's greatest challenges and embracing the journey of transformation.How to get involded:  Challenged Athletes Foundation:https:/www.challengedathletes.org/__;!!Dgr3g5d8opDR!W7UJ5nqEsvA8-_6ti2pr9Zqr9xJCgR85zJmFkSm2fcdM5xfwhm1m-G9juPYxLNW9p-1J1fKlSmlqGoFJRntm$Ametros is changing the way injured individuals navigate healthcare by providing them with post-settlement medical management tools for their settlement funds. Ametros helps drive more simplified, secured, and supported settlements and saves money by working closely with injured workers, insurers, employers, attorneys, and Medicare to create a seamless experience.Learn how Ametros can support you.

On this episode of the SeventySix Capital Sports Leadership Show, Wayne Kimmel interviewed Scott Kaplan, host of the afternoon drive radio program Sedano and Kap on 710 ESPN LA. Kaplan also serves as the Founder and CEO of Sided, the world's first AI poll-generating tool built for publishers to collect data, create engagement, and monetize. In his former life, Kaplan was the record-setting kicker for the football team at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2010, Kaplan completed the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. In 2016, he was part of an eight-man team that finished second in the Race Across America (RAAM). Kaplan is a long-time supporter of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and has ridden his bike five times from San Francisco to San Diego to help raise millions of dollars for CAF. Kaplan has four children and lives in both SD and LA. Scott Kaplan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-kaplan-sided/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottkaplan/ X: https://twitter.com/ScottKaplan Sided: https://app.sided.co/

In this episode we interview Track and Field athlete Hunter Woodhall, who at 11 months old had to have his legs removed but despite that became successful in his career. He has gone on to become a two time Paralympic medalist, Four-Time IPC Championships Medalist, and a 4x First-Team All-American (4x400-Meter Relay, Distance Medley Relay). These days, Hunter continues to compete and is working towards getting foundations started to help with people in need of prosthetics and various other projects relating to that such as the Challenged Athletes Foundation. About The Hosts: Danny Duncan is a top YouTuber with 7M+ subscribers and $150M+ in merch sales. He's also the co-owner of the popular frozen yogurt chain 16 Handles, founder of Good Sport, and Danny's Cream Pies. Jon Youshaei worked inside Instagram and YouTube for 8 years where he was Head of Creator Product Marketing before becoming a creator and journalist for Forbes, TIME, and more.

Join us for a special bonus episode of Walk and Roll Live as we continue our engaging conversation with Bob Babbitt from CAF (Challenged Athletes Foundation). We couldn't fit all the inspiring stories and insights into just one episode, so we're bringing you even more of Bob's incredible journey and the impactful work of CAF. Tune in for an uplifting and motivational discussion that will leave you feeling inspired and empowered. Don't miss out on this bonus installment of Walk and Roll Live! CAF Walk and Roll Live 

Join us for a special episode of Walk and Roll Live as we sit down with Bob Babbitt, co-founder of the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF). Discover the inspiring journey behind CAF's mission to empower athletes with physical challenges through sports and active lifestyles. From overcoming obstacles to achieving remarkable feats, Bob shares firsthand stories of resilience, determination, and the transformative power of sport. Tune in for an enlightening conversation that celebrates the human spirit and the boundless possibilities of perseverance. For more information, visit the Challenged Athletes Foundation website. Walk and Roll Live CAF CAF Grants Idaho Outdoor Fieldhouse YouTube

It's David's birthday! Everyone go wish him a happy birthday! And celebrate with a piece of cake for yourself! (calories don't count for birthday cake!) Today's word of the day is ‘blinked' as in Scott Boras as in the Chicago Cubs as in Cody Bellinger. It finally happened. Cody Bellinger has signed a deal. It's not the longterm deal most people thought he'd get. Who won this standoff? What's next for the Boras Boys? (11:20) Let me talk about my weekend and the Challenged Athletes Foundation. (19:05) It's time for an A's update! (30:30) Review: American Fiction. (34:00) We need to put an end to court-storming. Enough is enough. (40:00) NPPOD. Miami Heat and New Orleans Pelicans suspensions for a fight! The drama! (43:45) Steve Kerr got an extension. Big money. Matches up the years with Curry. End of an era? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's David's birthday! Everyone go wish him a happy birthday! And celebrate with a piece of cake for yourself! (calories don't count for birthday cake!) Today's word of the day is ‘blinked' as in Scott Boras as in the Chicago Cubs as in Cody Bellinger. It finally happened. Cody Bellinger has signed a deal. It's not the longterm deal most people thought he'd get. Who won this standoff? What's next for the Boras Boys? (11:20) Let me talk about my weekend and the Challenged Athletes Foundation. (19:05) It's time for an A's update! (30:30) Review: American Fiction. (34:00) We need to put an end to court-storming. Enough is enough. (40:00) NPPOD. Miami Heat and New Orleans Pelicans suspensions for a fight! The drama! (43:45) Steve Kerr got an extension. Big money. Matches up the years with Curry. End of an era? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Voices of Courage with Ken D. Foster The Courage to Overcome Anything with Lance Weir Are you stuck and wondering what to do next? Transformation is challenging, but when you have the purpose and inspiration to overcome, you will succeed. Tune is as Ironman Quadriplegic Lance Weir inspires us with truth, courage and wisdom on how to overcome anything. Lance a Marine Corps Reservist had just dislodged a canoe from a rapid when he leaned headfirst into the water to retrieve his ball cap. Lance hit his submerge rock, shattering his C-5 vertebrae, and as a result became a quadriplegic. Before his injury, sports and competition were always a big part of Lance‘s life. Fast forward 18 years and Challenged Athletes Foundation encouraged Lance to enrich his life through sport once again. Within a short time, he had earned 7 gold medals in shooting at both Marine Corps Trials and Warrior Games ultimately leading him to be identified as a Paralympic hopeful and becoming a shooting coach for the Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment. Lance now cycles a one-of-a-kind tandem hand cycle engineered and built by an incredible team of professionals. Since he has started cycling in 2011 Lance has completed the Challenged Athletes Foundation ride from San Francisco to San Diego 12 times. In 2017 last became the first tandem hand cycle to enter an IRONMAN. In 2016 along with his teammate became the first challenged athlete to enter and finish the grueling Silver State, 508; a 508-mile race taking 49 hours. Lance is not only passionate about Challenged Athletes Foundation but can also be found involved in another special nonprofit called Canine Companions.

Are you stuck and wondering what to do next? Transformation is chalenging, but when you have the purpose and inspiration to overcome, you will succeed. Tune is as Ironman Quadriplegic Lance Weir inspires us with truth, courage and wisdom on how to overcome anything.    Lance a Marine Corps Reservist had just dislodged a canoe from a rapid when he leaned headfirst into the water to retrieve his ball cap. Lance hit his submerge rock, shattering his C-5 vertebrae, and as a result became a quadriplegic.   Before his injury, sports and competition were always a big part of Lance‘s life. Fast forward 18 years and Challenged Athletes Foundation encouraged Lance to enrich his life through sport once again.   Within a short time, he had earned 7 gold medals in shooting at both Marine Corps Trials and Warrior Games ultimately leading him to be identified as a Paralympic hopeful and becoming a shooting coach for the Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment.   Lance now cycles a one-of-a-kind tandem hand cycle engineered and built by an incredible team of professionals.  Since he has started cycling in 2011 Lance has completed the Challenged Athletes Foundation ride from San Francisco to San Diego 12 times.    In 2017 last became the first tandem hand cycle to enter an IRONMAN.  In 2016 along with his teammate became the first challenged athlete to enter and finish the grueling Silver State, 508; a 508-mile race taking 49 hours.    Lance is not only passionate about Challenged Athletes Foundation but can also be found involved in another special nonprofit called Canine Companions.    Website: Canine.org challengedathletes.org   #voicesofcourage #kendfoster #LanceWeir #challengedathletes   Youtube: https://youtu.be/yaJ8oPd-kXU

Bob Babbitt, is an icon and legend of the sport of triathlon, he fell in love with the sport when he completed his first IRONMAN in 1980 in Oahu, that day literally changed his whole life, for the better and he has never looked back.A member of the IRONMAN Hall of Fame, USA Triathlon Hall of Fame, Co Founder of Competitor Magazine and the Challenged Athletes Foundation, Bob has been involved in the sport of triathlon for almost five decades and shows no sign of stopping or hanging up his trisuit. Host of the hugely popular Breakfast with Bob he shares the incredible stories of athletes chasing their goals and dreams providing a much loved global platform to inspire others to take up the sport he so dearly loves and has dedicated most of the past fifty years to.Trailblazer, innovator, entrepreneur, storyteller, author and multiple IRONMAN, Bob is one of the greatest historians of our sport with a thirst for knowledge and a curiosity that sparks a flame within him,  his passion for triathlon isn't passive, its infectious and the entertaining stories shared about his own life in sport insights from the people he has interviewed through the years and those he has helped through the Challenged Athletes Foundation are truly inspiring. 

Welcome to another episode of the "Just DeW It" podcast! In this episode, Anne Duffy has two incredible guests joining us, Susan Cotten and Kristie Boltz, who are passionate advocates for their respective charities. Susan will share her inspiring journey of fundraising for "Fire relief for Maui and Lahaina Dental Community," highlighting the critical work being done to aid those affected by fires in Maui. She'll delve into the personal connections that drive her commitment to this cause and how you can get involved in making a difference. Our second guest, Kristie Boltz, will open up about her involvement with the "Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF)". Kristie is a staunch supporter of adaptive sports and will discuss the transformative impact that CAF has on athletes with physical challenges, as well as why it's such a meaningful cause to her. These two charities, "Fire relief for Maui and Lahaina Dental Community" and "Challenged Athletes Foundation," are not only close to Susan and Kristie's hearts but are also top donation choices for our 2023 DeW Good Fund. Tune in to learn more about these remarkable causes and how you can help raise awareness and make a positive impact today! Fire relief for Maui and Lahaina Dental Community Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/fire-relief-Maui-dental-community Get Involved with the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF): https://www.challengedathletes.org/get-involved/ Just DeW It Podcast is the official podcast of Dental Entrepreneur Women (DeW), founded by Anne Duffy, RDH. The mission of DeW is to inspire, highlight, empower, and connect all women in dentistry. To join the movement or to learn more, please visit dew.life. Together, we can DeW amazing things! Join the DeW Life movement by becoming a member using this link.Join the Dental Entrepreneur movement by becoming a member using this link.Read the most recent edition of DeW Life Magazine here. References: Dew Good Fund Dental Hygiene Program: University of Hawaii Leanne Higa Rosie Vierra Cindy Ishimoto Elijah Desmond Dentistry's Got Talent Dental Festival Mark LeBlanc Janet Hagerman Jim MacLaren Zoom

Bob Babbitt is an avid triathlete and a prominent figure in the triathlon community. He co-founded Competitor magazine in 1987, which later became one of the leading publications covering triathlons, marathons, and other endurance sports. In 1990, Babbitt created the radio show "Babbittville Radio," which became a popular platform for interviews and discussions with professional athletes, coaches, and other influential figures in the triathlon world. Babbitt was also a key figure in the development of the sport of triathlon, serving on the board of directors for USA Triathlon and founding the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which provides support and resources to athletes with physical disabilities. Find out more about CAF at https://www.challengedathletes.org/ Have a listen to Babbittville Radio at https://babbittville.com/

Paul Webb has been traveling the country since 2021 on his bike to raise awareness and funds for the Challenged Athletes Foundation. He made a stop in Pella Saturday evening.

Episode Notes To find out more about the deeper learning conference visit the website, deeper-learning.org Kristin DeLaTorre (@delatorretcs on twitter) holds a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Florida Atlantic University. She is an educator in South Florida with 19 years of teaching experience. She has been nominated for the Dwyer Award in the area of Elementary Education and twice in the area of Stem-Project Based Learning Education. Kristin serves as a mentor for the Innovative Schools Project in the School District of Palm Beach County, where she supports teachers with implementing project-based learning in their classes. Her classroom has become a learning space for teachers and leaders as she works closely with the Innovative Schools Lead Instructional Program Developers and the Assistant Superintendent for Palm Beach County schools, helping teachers integrate Project Based Learning. This implementation will allow this methodology to be utilized across more schools in Palm Beach County. Kristin spends summers as a lead trainer for the Inquiry Project Collaborative as well as onboarding new teachers in the methods of Inquiry and Project Based Learning. Kristin started her work at The Conservatory School in the fall of 2015. In her time at TCS she has immersed herself in the PBL process and shown her students a greater understanding and empathy for the world beyond themselves. Over the past seven years, her students have been involved with, raised money, or donated goods for The Water Project in Africa, HIP Africa, Challenged Athletes Foundation, UNICEF, El Sol Food Bank, Rocking Horse Foundation, The National Honey Bee Conservancy, The World Wildlife Fund, and bought an acre of land in the South American Rainforest. The consistent mantra in her classroom is “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. Kristin has also become an expert in student-led learning, developing and implementing creative practices in the classroom that emphasizes self-directed education, creativity, and discovery, rather than rote memorization. Students are encouraged to incorporate their own interests into projects, within their current topic. Kristin strives to offer students agency and having their voices heard as they work together as a collective towards setting goals, being reflective and acting responsibly to effect change.

Tracie Garacochea is a WCMX skater (Wheelchair Moto Cross, a sport created and by Aaron Fotheringham) it's a young sport, and Tracie has been making her mark on it for 7 years! At the age of 62, she finds herself carving out new frontiers as she pushes her sport with personal style, commitment, and a tangible love for community and the next generation of skaters. Even more than her pro-tour & competition appearances at the Dew Tour, and wins at Exposure, her focus is volunteering, as it has been her entire life. She is fueled by an innate desire to show what's possible and extending those possibilities to kids by giving her time to expand access to more durable chairs suitable for sport, and teaching kids how to skate using their wheelchairs. In this interview, Tracie opens up about how she's adapted her goals and pursuits to meet the changing tides of her life. She addresses how skating helped her to see her wheelchair as an empowering tool, and other gear that keeps her rolling including the adapted protective gear that has allowed her to address MS symptoms that impact her skating. Her flexibility extends to her artistic mediums as well, and she shares how her approach to artwork has shifted as MS has changed her ability to work with her hands. Tracie shines light on the institutional challenges she's experienced as a disabled person. She recounts an exclusionary experience she had at a skate park, and the distrust she holds for our medical system which often fails to see the whole of a person's experience by rushing them in and out of appointments. Throughout this interview Tracie emanates an undeniable sense of wonder that is truly infectious. From the exuberant way she talks about her skate bestie, skateboarder, Brooklyn Khoury, to her appreciation of assorted found objects that she collects from the skate park. Take this ride with us and get to know Tracie!CHECK OUT THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT TRACIE WORKS WITH AND BELIEVES IN!: Challenged Athletes Foundation:https://www.challengedathletes.org/Life Rolls On:https://liferollson.org/PlayLA:https://www.laparks.org/play-laUS Center for Safe Sport:https://uscenterforsafesport.org/USA Skateboarding:https://usaskateboarding.com/Catch up with Tracie on IG:https://www.instagram.com/traciegara/?hl=enSupport Skaterade! Buy a sticker: https://ko-fi.com/skateradepod/shopBuy a patch:https://ko-fi.com/s/4da0f13491Get In Touch:skateradepod@gmail.comFollow Us On Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/skateradepod/

Bob Babbit co-founded the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which has helped 60% of Team USA Tokyo 2020 Paralympics at some point in their careers with grants for equipment, training and travel to the tune of $700,000+ for 128 athletes. Not only has it started almost everyone on their journey, it has also built a community that strengthens the group and the individuals. 

Bob Babbitt is widely known as one of the most influential people in the sport of Triathlon. Bob is the co-founder of Competitor Magazine and the Challenged Athletes Foundation. Bob has been inducted into the Carlsbad 5000 Hall of Fame, the LA Marathon Hall of Fame, the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame, and the Ironman Triathlon Hall of Fame.  As the ultimate storyteller of Triathlon, Babbitt has authored six books on endurance sports and conducted thousands of interviews with athletes and icons of the sport. Bob's contributions to Triathlon continue to this day through his interviews and articles featured on babbitville.com. The sport of Triathlon would simply not be what it is today, without Bob Babbitt.  Bob is also a great friend with whom I have shared many experiences. In this episode, you'll hear great stories, laugh a lot, and hear our perspectives on where our sport is headed. Listen in to the entire show on mikereilly.net/podcast     Follow Bob: Website: babbittville.com Facebook: facebook.com/BobBabbittPublic Instagram: instagram.com/babbittville

Dr. Aadeel Akhtar is the Founder and CEO of PSYONIC, a company whose mission is to develop advanced prostheses that are affordable for everyone. Victoria talks to Dr. Akhtar about the gaps in the market he you saw in current prosthetic ability, advancements PSYONIC has been able to make since commercializing, and essential principles and values when you were building out the team. PSYONIC (https://www.psyonic.io/) Follow PSYONIC on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/psyonicinc/) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/PSYONICinc). Follow Dr. Aadeel Akhtar on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aadeelakhtar/). Follow thoughtbot on Twitter (https://twitter.com/thoughtbot) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/150727/). Become a Sponsor (https://thoughtbot.com/sponsorship) of Giant Robots! Transcript: VICTORIA: This is The Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots Podcast, where we explore the design, development, and business of great products. I'm your host Victoria Guido. And with me today is Dr. Aadeel Akhtar, Founder and CEO of PSYONIC, a company whose mission is to develop advanced prostheses that are affordable for everyone. Aadeel, thank you for joining me. DR. AADEEL: Thank you for having me, Victoria. This is fun. VICTORIA: Yes, I'm excited to meet you. So I actually ran into you earlier this week at a San Diego tech meetup. And I'm curious just to hear more about your company PSYONIC. DR. AADEEL: So, as you mentioned, we develop advanced bionic limbs that are affordable and accessible. And this is actually something I've wanted to do my whole life ever since I was seven years old. My parents are from Pakistan. I was born in the Chicago suburbs. But I was visiting, and that was the first time I met someone missing a limb; and she was my age missing her right leg, using a tree branch as a crutch, living in poverty. And that's kind of what inspired me to go into this field. VICTORIA: Wonderful. And maybe you can start with what gaps in the market did you see in current prosthetic ability? DR. AADEEL: When we first started making these prosthetic devices, we were 3D printing them. And we thought that the biggest issue with prosthetic devices was that they were way too expensive and saw that with 3D printing, we'd be able to reduce the prices on them. And that's true; it was actually one of the biggest issues, but it wasn't the biggest issue. After talking with hundreds of patients and clinicians, the number one thing that we found that patients and clinicians would raise issue with was that their super expensive bionic hands were breaking all the time. And these were made with injection molded plastics and custom-machined steel. And they weren't doing anything crazy with it. They would accidentally hit the hand against the side of a table, but because they were made out of rigid components, they would end up snapping up those joints. And a natural hand, for example, if you bang a natural hand against a table or a rigid object, then it flexes out of the way. It has compliance in it, and that's why it's able to survive those types of hits and impacts a little bit more. It forced us to think outside the box of how can we still leverage the low-cost manufacturing of 3D printing but make this hand more robust than anything out there? And that's when I started looking into soft robotics. And with soft robotics, instead of making rigid links in your robot, so instead of having rigid joints and components, you'd use soft materials like silicone that are more akin to your skin and your own biological tissues that are more flexible and compliant. So we started making the fingers out of rubber and silicone. And now we've been able to do things like punch through flaming boards, and I dropped it from the roof of my house 30 feet up in the air, and it survived. We put it in a dryer for 10 minutes, and it survived tumbling around in a dryer. I've arm wrestled against the para-triathlete national champion and lost. So this thing was built to survive a lot more than just hitting your hand against the side of a table. VICTORIA: Wow, that sounds incredible. And I love that you started with a premise, and then you got feedback from your users and found a completely different problem, even though that same problem still existed [laughs] about the low cost. DR. AADEEL: Absolutely. VICTORIA: Wow. So taking it back a little bit more to the beginning, so you knew you always wanted to do prosthetics since you grew up in Pakistan and saw people without their limbs. Take me a little bit more from the beginning of the journey. When did you decide to start the company officially? DR. AADEEL: And just to clarify, I was just visiting Pakistan for the summer, but I grew up and was raised here in the U.S. So I went to Loyola University Chicago for undergrad, and I got a bachelor's degree in biology there, followed by a master's in computer science. And the original plan was to actually become an MD working with patients with amputations and developing prosthetics for them. But while I was an undergraduate student at Loyola, I took my first computer science class, and I absolutely loved it. I loved everything about coding, and programming, and engineering. And I realized that if I became a straight-up MD, I wouldn't get to do any of the cool things that I was learning in my computer science classes. And I wanted to figure out a way to combine my passions in engineering and computer science with clinical medicine and prosthetics. And right down the street at a hospital formerly known as The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago...it's now the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. It's the number-one rehabilitation hospital in the U.S. for the last 31 years. They made these huge breakthroughs in mind control bionic limbs where they were doing a surgery where they would reroute your nerves to other muscles that you already have on your body. And then, when you try to imagine bending your phantom elbow or making a phantom fist, your chest muscles would contract. And then you could use those signals to then control this robotic limb that was designed by Dean Kamen that was sponsored by DARPA and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. That was just absolutely incredible. And it was this perfect mixture of engineering and clinical medicine, and it was exactly what I wanted to get into. But, as you'd mentioned, we're all about accessibility, and a $100,000 cost hand would not cut it. And so I ended up finishing a master's in computer science. I taught at Loyola for a couple of years and then went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I got another master's in electrical and computer engineering, a Ph.D. in neuroscience. And then I finished the first year of medical school before I left to run PSYONIC because it is a lot more fun building bionic limbs [laughs] than finishing medical school. And while I was a graduate student, we started 3D printing our own prosthetic hands, and we got the chance in 2014 to go down to Quito, Ecuador, where we were working with a nonprofit organization called The Range of Motion Project. And their whole mission is to provide prosthetics to those who can't afford them in the U.S., Guatemala, and Ecuador. And we went down there, and we were working with a patient who had lost his left hand 35 years prior due to machine gunfire from a helicopter; he was in the Ecuadorian Army. And there was a border war between Ecuador and Peru. And Juan, our patient, in front of international news stations, said that he felt as though a part of him had come back. And that was because he actually made a pinch with his left hand for the first time in 35 years. And you have to imagine the hand at that time was three times the size of an average natural hand, adult human hand. Had wires going everywhere, breadboards, power supplies, the walls, you name it. And despite that, he said that a part of him had come back. And he actually forgot how to make a pinch with his left hand, and we had to retrain his brain by placing a mirror in front of his left side reflecting his right hand, tricking his brain into thinking that his left hand was actually there. And he would make a pinch with both sides, and it would reactivate the muscles in his forearm on his left side. And when he said that, that's when I realized that if I stay in academia, then this just ends up as a journal paper. And if we want everyone to feel the same way that Juan did, we had to commercialize the technology. And so that's when PSYONIC was born. VICTORIA: I love that you're working on that as someone who's from Washington, D.C., and has done a lot of work in veterans and homeless organizations and seen how life-changing getting access to limbs and regaining capability can be for people. DR. AADEEL: Absolutely. In fact, our first user in the U.S. is a U.S. Army sergeant who lost his hand in Iraq in 2005 due to roadside bombs, Sergeant Garrett Anderson. He used a hook on a daily basis, and with our hand, he's actually able to feel his daughter's hand, which is something that he wasn't able to do with any other prosthesis. And for him to tell us that that is why we do what we do. VICTORIA: Right. And I saw on your website that you have several patents and have talked about the advances you've been able to make in what I'm going to call the sensorimotor bionic limbs. Can you tell me a little bit more about some of the advancements you've been able to make since you decided to commercialize this? DR. AADEEL: The first thing that usually users notice is that, and clinicians notice as well, is that the hand is the fastest bionic hand in the world. So the fingers close in about 200 milliseconds. And to put that into context, we can wink our eyes in about 300 milliseconds. So it's technically faster than the blink of an eye, which is kind of a cool statistic there. So it's super fast. And the fingers are super resistant to impact, so they're very durable. And so we've got a couple of patents on both of those items in particular. And then there's the touch feedback aspect. So this is the only hand on the market that gives users touch feedback. And so the methods that we have to mold the fingers to enable that sensory feedback that is what our third patent is on for the hand, and it just looks really cool. It's got like this black carbon fiber on it that just looks really futuristic and bionic. And it just gives users the confidence that this isn't something to be pitied; this is something that's really cool. And especially for our war heroes, that's something to be celebrated that I lost my hand for our country, and now I've got this really cool one that can do all of the things that my hand used to do. VICTORIA: And I also saw that it's reimbursable by Medicare in the U.S. And I was curious if you had any lessons learned from that process for getting eligible for that. DR. AADEEL: Yeah. And that was part of the goal from the very beginning. After we did our customer discovery process, where we figured out what the pain points are and found out that durability was one of the biggest issues, obviously, one of the other issues was the really expensive price of the other hands, and typically what we call a multi-articulated hand, so that's one where each one of the fingers move individually. Those are only covered by the VA, so if you're in the military or workman's comp so if you had a workplace accident. And that only accounted for about 10% of the U.S. market. And what the clinicians kept telling us over and over again was that if you can get the hand covered by Medicare, then usually all the other insurance companies will follow suit, like your Blue Cross Blue Shield, your Aetna, your Kaiser, et cetera. So that was our design goal from the beginning. So how can we hit a price point that Medicare would cover but also make this fully featured that no other hand can do any of these other things? What it primarily came down to was hitting that price point. And as long as we hit that price point, then Medicare was going to be fine with it. So we invented a lot of the manufacturing methods that we use in-house to make the hand in particular. So we do all the silicone molding. We do all the carbon fiber work. We do all the fabric work. We do all the assembly of it in-house in our warehouse here in San Diego. And by being so vertically integrated, we're able to then iterate very quickly and make these innovations happen at a much more rapid scale so that we can get them out there faster and then help more people who need it. VICTORIA: So you've really grown tremendously from when you first had the project, and now you have a team here in San Diego. Do you have any lessons learned for enabling your team to drive faster in that innovation? DR. AADEEL: Yeah, the biggest thing that I feel like a lot of things come down to is just having grit. So especially with a startup, it's always going to be a roller coaster ride. And for us, I think one of the big motivating factors for us is the patients themselves when they get to do these things that they weren't able to do before. So another one of our first patients, Tina, had just become a grandmother, and she was able to feed her granddaughter for the first time because she was able to hold the bottle with her bionic hand, The Ability Hand, and then hold her granddaughter with her natural hand and then feed her using The Ability Hand. It's, like I said, moments like that is why we do what we're doing. It gives us that motivation to work those long hours, make those deadlines so that we can help as many people as possible. VICTORIA: Right. So you have that motivating power behind your idea, which makes a lot of sense. What else in your customer discovery sprint was surprising to you as you moved through that process? DR. AADEEL: So there was definitely the robustness that was surprising. There was the cost that wasn't necessarily the highest priority thing, which we thought would be the highest priority. And the speed and just having to rely on visual feedback, you have to kind of look at the hand as you're doing the task that you're doing, but you have to look at it very intently. So that takes a lot of cognitive load. You have to pay attention very specifically to am I doing the right movement with my hand? In ways that you wouldn't necessarily have to do with a natural hand. And by making the hand move so responsive as it is and move so quickly, in addition to having that touch feedback, that reduces, or at least we believe it'll reduce a lot of that cognitive load for our patients so that they don't have to be constantly monitoring exactly what the hand is doing in order to do a lot of the tasks or the activities of daily living that they're doing on a day to day basis. The whole customer discovery process drove what features we were going to focus on in actually making this hand a reality. VICTORIA: Yeah, that makes sense. And I love hearing about what came up that surprised people. And I appreciate your commitment to that process to really drive your business idea and to solve this problem that happens to so many people in the United States. Well, how widespread is this issue? And, of course, I'm sure you're targeting more than just the United States with rollout, but... DR. AADEEL: So, globally, there are over 10 million people with hand amputations, and 80% of them actually live in developing nations, and less than 3% have access to affordable rehabilitative care. So it's a huge need worldwide, and we want to make sure that everyone has access to the best available prosthetic devices. VICTORIA: That makes sense. So I guess commercializing this product leads to more room, more availability across for everyone. DR. AADEEL: Absolutely. And interesting thing about that, too, is that as we were developing these, the hand in particular, we've optimized it for humans to do human tasks. And we have a programming interface that we put on it that allows researchers to control each one of the fingers like you control the speed, the position, and the force from each one of those fingers as well as you can stream all of the touch sensors like over Bluetooth or over a USB connection, and then also the location of each one of those fingers as well. A lot of robotics researchers who are building humanoid robots and robot arms to do other tasks like manufacturing and robotic surgery and things like that have been purchasing our hand too. So notably, for example, NASA and Meta, so Facebook Meta, have purchased our hands, and NASA is putting it on a humanoid astronaut robot, which hopefully will eventually go into space. And then, on Earth, they'd be able to control it and then manipulate objects in space. And it's opened up an entirely new market, but the critical thing here is that it's the exact same hand that the humans are getting that the robots are getting. And what this allows us to do is just expand our volume of production and our sales so that we can actually further drive down the costs and the pricing for the human side of things as well. So if we're talking about places like India, or Pakistan, or Guatemala, or Ecuador where there are no government incentives in place to reimburse at a rate that they might in the U.S., then we can actually get the price point to one that's actually affordable in those areas as well. And I'm really excited about those prospects. VICTORIA: That's so cool that future robot astronauts will be financing people who have no ability [laughs] to go into space or anything like that. That's a cool business idea. I wonder, when did that happen for you, or what was that like when you realized that there was this other potential untapped market for robotic limbs? DR. AADEEL: It's interesting. It was always in the back of our minds because, as I was a Ph.D. student, I was in the Ph.D. group that focused on robotics, in particular more so than prosthetics. And I was the first one in the group to actually kind of have the prosthetic spin on things. And so I had an idea of where the market was for the robotic side of things. And I had some connections as well. And so I was actually giving a talk at Georgia Tech early last year. The Director of the Georgia Tech Robotics Institute, Dr. Seth Hutchinson, he was telling me that...he was like, "You should go to the big robotics conference, ICRA, because people are going to be like...absolutely love this product for their robots." And we were just like, huh, we never considered that. And so we decided to go, and it was just absolutely nuts. We've had researchers from all over the world being like, "How can I get this hand?" And compared to a lot of the robotic hands that are out there, even on the robotic side, this is a much lower price point than what they've been dealing with. And by solving a lot of the problems on the human side, like durability, and sensory feedback, and dexterity, and the pricing, it actually solved a lot of the problems on the robotic side as well. So I was just like...after we had gone to that conference, we realized that, yeah, we can actually make this work as well. VICTORIA: That's really cool. And it sounds like tapping into this robotics market and networking really worked for you. What else about your market research or strategy seem to be effective in your business growth? DR. AADEEL: This is interesting as well. So half of our sales actually come from social media, which for a medical device company is usually unheard of. [laughs] Because usually the model is, for medical devices, where you have a group of sales reps located across the regions that you're selling and so across the U.S. And they would visit each one of the clinics, and then they would work with the clinicians directly in getting these on the patients. That usually accounts for like 99% of sales. And so for us, for half of them to come from social media, it was a goal that we had set out to, but it was also surprising that that accounted for so much of our volumes and our revenue. The way we set it up was that we wanted to make videos of our hand that highlighted things that our hand could do that were novel and unique. And so, for example, we wanted to highlight the durability of the hand as well as the dexterity and the touch feedback. And so some of the first videos that we made were like arm wrestling against a bionic hand. And what's cool about that is that the general public just found that very interesting in general. But also, when a clinician and a patient sees that, wow, this hand can actually withstand the forces of an actual arm wrestling match, then they're also just as impressed. And the same thing with punching through three wooden boards that we set on fire; if it can handle that, then it can handle activities of daily living. General public seizes, and they're just like, "Whoa, that's so cool." But then clinicians and the patients they see that, and they were like, "My prosthetic hand couldn't do this before." And so then they contact us, and we're like, "How can we get your hand?" And then we'll either put them in contact with a clinician, or we'll work with one of the clinicians that they are already working with then go through their insurance that way. And so it's just been a really exciting and fun way to generate, like, expand our market and generate sales that we didn't necessarily think was going to be a viable way from the start. VICTORIA: Right. I totally get it. I mean, I want one, and both my hands still work. MID-ROLL AD: thoughtbot is thrilled to announce our own incubator launching this year. If you are a non-technical founding team with a business idea that involves a web or mobile app, we encourage you to apply for our eight-week program. We'll help you move forward with confidence in your team, your product vision, and a roadmap for getting you there. Learn more and apply at tbot.io/incubator, that's tbot.io/incubator. VICTORIA: Have you ever seen someone rock climb with the prosthetic hand? DR. AADEEL: Not yet, but that is something that is definitely on our docket. VICTORIA: Okay, well, we need to do it. Since we're both in San Diego, I can help you. [laughs] DR. AADEEL: Sweet. I love it. [laughs] VICTORIA: Yeah, we can figure that out because there are, especially in the climbing gyms, there are usually groups that come in and climb with prosthetic limbs on a regular basis since it's a kind of a surprisingly accessible sport. [laughs] DR. AADEEL: So one of the great things about being here in San Diego is that there's like a ton of incredible resources for building prosthetics and then for users of them as well. So the Challenged Athletes Foundation is located 10 minutes from us. So we're located in Scripps Ranch. And the Challenged Athletes Foundation they're like over in the Sorrento Valley area. They hold the para-triathlon every year. And so we just went to their event a couple of months ago, and it was absolutely incredible. And so we've got like a five-year goal of making an ability leg. So we have The Ability Hand right now. So the ability leg, we want to actually be able to perform a triathlon, so run, bike, and swim with the leg. And I think that would be a phenomenal goal. And all the pieces are here in San Diego. We got the military hospital, and so we've got the veteran population. We've got the Challenged Athletes Foundation. We've got UCSD, and they're incredible at engineering. We've got two prosthetic schools right around LA, so Loma Linda University in California State University, Dominguez Hills. And there are only 11 in the entire nation, and two of them just happen to be right around here. It's a med tech hub. There's like a bunch of med tech companies and both startups and huge ones like NuVasive that are in the area. And it's a huge engineering place, too, with Qualcomm. And so we want to bring all of those resources together. And it's my goal to turn San Diego into the bionics capital of the world, where people from all over the world are coming here to have the most advanced devices ever created. VICTORIA: Oh, I love that idea. And you just moved to San Diego a few years ago. Is that right? DR. AADEEL: Actually, six months ago, so it's very new for us. VICTORIA: Six months? [laughter] Well, you sound like me when I moved to San Diego. I was like; it's great here. [laughter] DR. AADEEL: Well, I hope you still find it to be great. [laughs] VICTORIA: Yeah, I love it. I've been here for two years now. And, yes, there's more to it than just the weather being good all the time. [laughter] There's a lot here. DR. AADEEL: [laughs] It doesn't hurt, though, right? VICTORIA: Yeah. And, I mean, I love that I can still do my networking events outdoors all year long, so going on hikes and stuff versus being indoors in the winter. But I find it fascinating that San Diego has just so much biotech all around, and I will happily support how I can [laughs] turning it into a bionic limb capital. I think that's a great idea. Well, so I wanted to get back...we're talking about the future right now. I wanted to ask about building your team. So you started the company almost seven years ago, and you've grown the team a lot since then. Did you have any essential principles or values that you started with when you were building out your team? DR. AADEEL: Yeah. So when we were first hiring, I was still a Ph.D. student when I started the company. Our first employee was actually my undergraduate student. He's currently our Director of Engineering, Jesse Cornman. And we specifically were recruiting people that did stuff outside of the lab, so the electrical engineers and the mechanical engineers that we initially hired. We wanted to make sure that it wasn't just like the university projects that they were working on. And we would find a lot of our early people from like car team so like this was like building like a solar car, so Illini Solar Car was one of our places where we'd get a lot of our early employees as well as the electrical vehicle concept team and design, build, fly, and these student organizations where they had like competitions, and they had to build real, tangible things to compete in with. And the thing is that those are the people who do this stuff for fun, and you learn the most when you're having fun doing this stuff. And so we would always look for that stuff in particular. And there were some litmus tests that we'd have to be able to weed out very quickly what people know what. And so for electrical engineers, we would always ask if they know surface mount soldering because it's not like your typical soldering on a perf board or even like using a breadboard. It's like you have a circuit board, and you have to solder these very small components on there. And if you know how to solder those small components, you typically know how to code them as well. So they have some embedded systems background as well and some PCB design experience as well. And so that was like a quick litmus test that we use for the electrical engineers. For the mechanical engineers, it was typically if they knew how to do surface modeling. And so we would ask them, "How would you make the palm of a hand where you got these complex structures and these complex surfaces that have different geometries and different curvature?" And if they were able to do a surface modeling, then we knew that they'd be able to CAD that up pretty quickly. They probably have some sort of 3D printing experience from that as well, and that they can just rapidly iterate and prototype on the devices. And so that worked really, really well. And so we were able to get a lot of bright engineers who early on in the company...and many who were student interns at the time that eventually even went on to Microsoft and Google or some of the students went to MIT and places like that. And we were very fortunate to be in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's ecosystem, where it was just one of the best engineering schools in the world to develop this kind of stuff. VICTORIA: That's great. So you had really specific skills that you needed. [laughs] And you kind of knew the type of work or an experience that led to that. As you've expanded your team and you're building a culture of collaboration, how do you set expectations with how you all work together? DR. AADEEL: As a startup, we all wear many, many hats. So my job, I feel like, is to fill in all the gaps. And so some days, I might be doing marketing; some days, I might be visiting a clinic and doing sales. Other times I'm working with the engineering team to make sure that we're on track over there. And it's like all this stuff in between. And so being able to work cohesively like that and put on those many hats so that you know every part of the process from the marketing and sales sides but also the engineering and operations side, I think that's really allowed us to get to the point where we have by doing all these different functions together. VICTORIA: That makes sense. So you are all located in San Diego now, so you have to be in person to work on robot hands? DR. AADEEL: Yeah, we found that it was much easier to build a physical object in person than it was to do things remotely. At the beginning of COVID, we actually did try to, like, you know, we moved 3D printers out into people's houses and the manufacturing equipment. And then I remember just to put together a power switch that usually took like one hour to do in the lab. It took us a day and a half because one person had the circuit board, the other person had the enclosure, the other person had the thing to program it. And then each thing depended on each other. So you had to keep carting that small piece back and forth between houses, and it was just a nightmare to do that. And so after a couple of months, we ended up moving back into the offices and manufacturing there with staggered work hours or whatever. And at that point, we were just like, okay, this is much more efficient when we're all in person. And honestly, a lot of our best ideas have come from just me sitting here and then just walking over to one of the engineers and being like, "Hey, what do you think of this idea?" And it's a lot harder to do when you're all remote, right? VICTORIA: That makes sense. Yeah, just the need to physically put pieces together [laughs] as a group makes it hard to be fully remote. And you get a lot of those ideas flowing when you're in person. What is on the horizon for you? What are you most excited about in your upcoming feature set? DR. AADEEL: Like I said, one of the reasons why we moved here was to work with the military hospital, and so some of the work that we're doing with them is particularly exciting. The way you typically wear these prosthetic devices...so you'll have muscle sensors that are embedded in a...it's like a shell that goes around your residual limb. We call it the socket. Think about it as like a shoe for your residual limb. And the thing is, as you're wearing this throughout the day, it starts to get sweaty. It starts to get uncomfortable. Things shift around. Your signals don't control the hand as well because of all these changes and everything. And with the military hospital, we're working on something called osseointegration. So instead of having this socket that's molded to your residual limb that you shove your arm into, you have a titanium implant that goes inside your bones and then comes out of your body, and then you directly attach the hand to your bones like a limb naturally should be. And then, on top of that, instead of using these muscles sensors on the outside of your body, we're actually working on implanted electrodes with some of our collaborators. For example, at University of Chicago, they're doing brain implants to control prosthetic limbs. And a company in Dallas called Nerves Incorporated that's working with the University of Minnesota and UT Southwestern; they're doing nerve implants in your forearm and in your upper arm to control prosthetic limbs. And with those, you get much more fine control, so it's not like you're just controlling different grips, like preset grips in the hand, but you're actually doing individual finger control. And then, when you touch the finger, it's actually stimulating your nerves to make it feel like it's coming from your hand that you no longer have anymore. And this is where we're heading with all of this stuff in the future. And so we built The Ability Hand to work with clinically available systems now, like sockets, and muscle sensors, and vibration motors that are all outside of the body. But then also, when these future technologies come up that are more invasive that are directly implanted on your nerves as well as into your bones as well, we're really excited about those prospects coming out in the horizon. VICTORIA: That's really cool. [laughs] I mean, that would be really life-changing for a lot of people, I'm sure, to have that ability to really control your fingers and get that extra comfort as well. How do you manage quality into your process, especially when you're getting invasive and putting in nerve implants? What kind of testing and other types of things do you all do? DR. AADEEL: With The Ability Hand itself, there was actually an FDA Class I exempt device, meaning that we didn't have to go through the formal approval process that you typically do. And that was primarily because it's attached to your residual limb as opposed to going invasive. But with going invasive, with our clinical partners they're actually doing FDA clinical trials right now. And so they've gone through a lot of those processes. We're starting to enroll some of our patients who are using The Ability Hand to get these implanted electrodes. We're kind of navigating that whole process ourselves right now too. So I think that was one of the reasons why we moved to San Diego, to work with and leverage a lot of the expertise from people who've done it already, from the med tech device companies that are big that have gone through those processes and can guide us through that process as well. So we're excited to be able to leverage those resources in order to streamline these clinical trial processes so that we can get these devices out there more quickly. VICTORIA: That's very cool. I'm super excited to hear about that and to learn more about PSYONIC. Is there anything else you want to share with our audience today as a final takeaway? DR. AADEEL: Absolutely. So in order to make all this stuff happen, we're actually in the middle of raising a round right now. Our biggest issue right now is actually that we've got more demand than we can produce, so we're working on scaling our manufacturing here in San Diego. So we're in the middle of an equity crowdfunding round. And we're all about accessibility, so about making our hand accessible to as many people as possible. So we were like, why don't we make the company accessible as well? And one of the most beautiful things about doing this as an equity crowdfunding round is our patients actually have invested in the company as well. And so it's like, we're making these devices for them, and then they get to be a part of it as well. And it's just this beautiful synergy that I couldn't have asked for anything more out of a crowdfunding campaign. And so we've raised over 750k already on StartEngine. And you can find out more and invest for as little as $250 at psyonic.io, so that's psyonic.io/invest. And the other thing I was going to mention, especially Victoria since you're in San Diego as well, is that I happily give tours to anyone who is in the area. So if anyone wants to see how we build all these bionic hands and just a cool robotics startup in general, we'd be happy to have you come visit us. VICTORIA: That's very cool. I'll have to connect with you later and schedule a tour myself. [laughs] That's wonderful. I'm excited to hear all the things you're working on and hope to see you more in the San Diego community coming up. And we'll share links to the funding page and other information about PSYONIC in our show notes. You can subscribe to the show and find notes along with a complete transcript for this episode at giantrobots.fm. If you have questions or comments, email us at hosts@giantrobots.fm. And you can find me on Mastodon at Victoria Guido. And this podcast is brought to by thoughtbot and produced and edited by Mandy Moore. Thank you for listening. See you next time. ANNOUNCER: This podcast is brought to you by thoughtbot, your expert strategy, design, development, and product management partner. We bring digital products from idea to success and teach you how because we care. Learn more at thoughtbot.com. Special Guest: Aadeel Akhtar.

On our forty-ninth episode, Allen talks to supporters of The Challenged Athletes Foundation and members of The Cycling Club in Columbus, Ohio: Chris Imhoff, Kristie Boltz, & Don Novel about cycling, the CAF foundation, their team, Kristie's post ride snacks, Don's epic routes, Chris' dedication to riding, and so much more!!! The Challenged Athletes Foundation is dedicated to people who have lost a limb and helping them stay active to still live a healthy lifestyle!!! The true passion that these individuals have to help their community and people they may never meet is phenomenal!!! It's an inspiring, passionate, and empowering listen!!! Thanks for joining us for this episode!!! The Challenged Athletes Foundation: https://www.challengedathletes.org/ The Cycling Club: www.thecyclingclub.org Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/stokedonspokespodcast Facebook: The Stoked On Spokes Podcast | Facebook Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stokedonspokespodcast/

That escalated quickly! I'm trying to make it possible to go for the Grand Slam of Ultra Running! With my registration for Western States already complete, I decided to try to make the rest of the races in the Grand Slam a reality. In doing so, I've secured a charity spot raising funds for the Vermont Adaptive (http://www.vermontadaptive.org/about-us/). I'm in the process of trying to gain a charity spot for Leadville 100 by raising funds for The Challenged Athletes Foundation (https://www.challengedathletes.org/mission-and-history/). I've registered for the Old Dominion 100 as a possibility if things fall through for Leadville.  I'd like to thank all that donated to Vermont Adaptive to help me reach my fundraising goal, but it's not done. I'd like to continue to raise funds for them! Please consider donating to The Vermont Adaptive through my fundraising page - https://www.pledgereg.com/357957 Thanks to the following for their donations: Mike, Andrew, Brendon, Nathan Rafaela, Terra, Chris & Paula, Blanche, Nancy, Moe & Mercedes, Trish, & Tammy. Thank you!   As soon as I have the Challenged Athlete Foundation spot confirmed, I will set up the fundraising page and share that information!   Resources: Chasing 400 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GwDc84ZIAA Free Trail Podcast - Episode 101 - Trail Nutrition w/ Shannon O'Grady of Gnarly Nutrition - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trail-nutrition-101-shannon-ogrady-phd/id1492327668?i=1000588152907 www.moboboard.com   MR Runningpains (Aaron's) information: If you'd like to learn more about Patreon or to donate, please visit https://www.patreon.com/MRRunningpains My Socials, Channels, & Newsletter: https://www.facebook.com/MRRUNNINGPAINSEVENTS/ https://www.instagram.com/mrrunningpains/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ6J512qA34z_N0KJSU4jfw https://www.strava.com/athletes/18431982  To sign up for my Newsletter -https://www.mrrunningpains.com Email - runningpains@gmail.com Thanks to all of you for listening! Please share the Podcast and please leave a review, rate, & subscribe if you haven't done so already! THANK YOU! Aaron Saft MR Runningpains Discounts: $10 Off Ultra Running Magazine Subscription - https://subscriber.ultrarunning.com/subscribe/ambassador?code=AM7A9D7 15% off KOGALLA - http://kogalla.com/?aff=runningpains - use code MR Runningpains Thanks to my Patrons: Cullen Hicks Leah Lanier Teresa Bowser Carolyn Morrisroe Mike Sears Julia Jordan Nicole Burnham Peter Keyo Will Weidman Philip Taylor Martin Thorne Nancy Lewis  Victor Dostrow Kendall Weaver Nate Heaslip Austin Elder Tory Grieves  

It is the mission of the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) to provide opportunities and support to people with physical challenges so they can pursue active lifestyles. Involvement in sports at any level increases self-esteem, encourages independence, and enhances quality of life. On today's episode, hear from the co-founder of the CAF and triathlon personality, Bob Babbitt, as he shares the origin story of the organization and some memorable moments from the grants received and accomplishments achieved! At TriDot, we trust 2Toms to keep us moving! 2Toms provides revolutionary products to prevent issues from chafing, blisters, odors and sweat. To make the switch to 2Toms, head to Medi-Dyne.com and use the code “TRIDOT” to save 20 percent on your entire order. And a big thanks to UCAN for being a long time partner of the podcast! We are huge believers in using UCAN to fuel our training and racing. To experience UCAN's LIVSTEADY products for yourself, head to their website UCAN.co! Use the code “TriDot” to save 20 percent on your entire order. Participate in Triathlon Research! The Preseason Project® is a triathlon research initiative that helps us quantify and enhance the performance gains that TriDot's Optimized Training™ delivers over training alternatives. Qualified participants receive 2 free months of triathlon training. Learn more and apply here: https://psp.tridot.com/psp23pod/

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://thecitylife.org/2022/10/07/empire-state-building-hosts-annual-run-up-presented-by-turkish-airlines-and-powered-by-the-challenged-athletes-foundation/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/support

Welcome to episode 144 of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!On this week's show we welcome back the co-founder of Wild Swimrun and all around amazing human being, Maria Rohman. Hard to believe that the last time we had Mia on was all the way back in episode 10 but she's back to share all the latest news at Wild Swimrun and her thoughts on how to inspire the next generation of Swimrunners.But first...Training UpdateSwimrunNC is a little over a week away! Not sure we'll get a Swimrun practice in before the race but we'll definitely be hitting steep hills to get ready for the terrain. If you're racing SwimrunNC, make sure to join us for a shakeout Swimrun at 3pm after packet pickup to do some final gear checks and scope out a bit of the course. Plus there will be fika at the end. Get all the info on FB here.ShoutoutsThis week we are shouting out Chipper's buddy Nate who finished the Run Rabbit Run 100 miler. It took him 31ish hours to complete the grueling course that had over 16,000ft of elevation gain. He also got stung by bees during the race! Strong work señior! Feats of EnduranceThis week's Feats of Endurance winner is Rob Balucas. Back in 2015, Rob was in a serious bike accident in Marin County while training for his first 70.3 triathlon and was paralized from the waist down. In the year's since he's racing a bunch of Ironmans, is involved in the Challenged Athletes Foundation, and basically goes around inspiring people all day. Fast forward to today…at the time that this podcast is released Rob is racing the Ironman World Championship in Kona for the first time! Best of luck and we're rooting for you!Bonus shoutout to Helen Wikmar who is also racing her first Ironman World Championship today!Make sure to sign up for our LTBz Strava Club and join Swimrunners from around the world as they train for stuff.This Week in SwimrunWe've got a super short update this week.The Troll Enez Swimrun took place in France over the weekend and this ÖTILLÖ Merit Race did not disappoint. Shout out to friends of the pod Matthieu Poullain and Eugenie Plane for winning the mixed division and coming in 2nd overall on the 50km course. (In case anyone hasn't gotten their mind blown today…they finished with a bonkers time of 4:32!) Speaking of the course, the race takes place in the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany. I looked up this location on the internets and I have three words for our listeners: “inland sea archipelago!”Coming up next weekend is ÖTILLÖ Cannes and I can already feel the FOMO levels rising. Last year's race was every Swimrunner's dream and this year it looks to be no different. BTW, they still have slots available so if you're feeling like Swimrunning in the south of France next weekend, by all means let us live vicariously through you.That is it for this week. Feel free to reach out and let us know if there's anything that you'd like for us to mention on the show.Show Business (the segment formally called Updates)This week's episode is all about the positive vibes that make Swimrun such an amazing sport and community. Help us grow this community by considering donating to the Wild Swimrun's WILD Youth Initiative. This initiative helps fund women and girls to attend one of Wild Swimrun's awesome camps. Since episode 10 we've raised enough money to fund two scholarships and we are close to funding a third. Head over to lowtideboyz.com and scroll to the bottom to donate to this amazing program.Maria RohmanIt was so great to catch up with Mia. We've kept in touch since we met her and Fanny Kuhn in Catalina and it was great to see her in Sweden a few weeks back. We asked her to come back on the show to talk about how to introduce kids and families to Swimrun and get an update on all things Wild Swimrun. This conversation had all the feels and one again reaffirmed to us that Mia is one of Swimrun's greatest ambassadors. We know you will love it as much as we did. Enjoy!That's it for this week's show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, and on YouTube. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback and/or suggestions. Finally, you can support our efforts on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.Thanks for listening and see you out there!-  Chip and Chris

For over 40 years Bob Babbitt has influenced the world of Triathlon for the better. He started racing triathlons way back in the late 1970s. He did his first Ironman Triathlon in 1980 on the island of Oahu and ended up completing five more when the event moved to the Big Island.   He has been inducted into both the Ironman Hall of Fame and the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame. He also co-founded Competitor Magazine and the Challenged Athletes Foundation, plus he created Competitor Radio, and Babbittville radio. He's traveled the world interviewing the greats of the sport with his show Breakfast with Bob.   His passion for the sport and willingness to always put others first and help them achieve greatness is truly inspiring.   He also co-founded Competitor Magazine and the Challenged Athletes Foundation, plus he created Competitor Radio and the Muddy Buddy Ride and Run Series.   When people ask about his best finish in the Ironman World Championship, he is quick to tell them that back in 1980 he finished in the top 60. Hey, who needs to know that there were only 108 people in the race?   Show Sponsor AnyQuestion - anyquestion.com/BobBabbitt   Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26936856 "The Greg Bennett Show"   Timestamps 2:02 - Interview starts 5:46 - You can be faster - Bob's passionate description about why triathlon is the ultimate aging sport for everyone! Triathlon is an equal opportunity abuser 6:57 - Why it's imperative why we need to show young people the benefits of triathlon. 11:49 - The Journey of triathlon from Bob Babbitt's eyes. (listener warning; Sit back, and prepare to laugh and learn) Bob participated in the third ever Ironman Triathlon in 1980 – there were only 108 entrants in that race, and there were only 15 in the field the year before. Bob purchased a second hand bike for $75 from a local police auction. Mile 90 I got a root beer snow cone for a food hand-off 24:36 - Through passionate people like Bob Babbitt the sport of Triathlon grew exponetially through the 80's. Bob explains the day Julie Moss captivated television screens across America. This is the video that Bob explains from that event in 1982. 34:06 - After 40 plus years, Bob self reflects on the greatest highs he has experienced. Bob describes a wonderful story about Dave Scott and Mark Allen. 40:47 - Book reference: Mark Allen's Total Triathlete - written by Mark Allen & Bob Babbitt. 43:37 - The Mark Allen and Dave Scott rivilry is beautifully explained by Bob who had a front row seat and friendship to it playing out. 46:03 - Bob explains his involvement and how it all started in the Challenged Athlete Foundation. Most insurance companies do not cover adaptive sports equipment and many individuals with physical challenges simply cannot afford it. The Challenged Athlete Foundation has raised over $123 million. It is the mission of the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) to provide opportunities and support to people with physical challenges, so they can pursue active lifestyles through physical fitness and competitive athletics. The Challenged Athletes Foundation believes that involvement in sports at any level increases self-esteem, encourages independence and enhances quality of life. If you are in a position to donate to this amazing cause, please do. The person who wins the race isn't the one who goes the fastest ... it's the person who slows down the least ... 52:48 - All the details about The Million Dollar Challenge. 55:00 - Bob explains some of the biggest impacts he has seen through the Foundation over the decades. One particular athlete - Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah has a tremendous and inspiring story. Emmanual was born in Ghana missing his tibia in one leg. In the Country of Ghana, 20% of the population is disabled. In Ghana, your family is 'cursed' when born with any kind of disability, and his mother was told to abandon her son in the jungle. 1:03:32 - Bob describes the challenges and highlights he has experienced through the Foundation. 1:07:56 - Greg abd Bobbie have some fun and talk through their opinions on the following; GOAT Triathletes - men and women Predictions for 2022 Kona 70.3 Worlds WTS 1:23:07 - Interview concludes.   Links Be sure and check out bennettendurance.com Find Greg on social media: Twitter Greg Bennett Show Instagram The Greg Bennett Show   Find Bob Babbitt on social media: Website - babbittville.com Twitter: Bob Babbitt Facebook: Bob Babbitt Instagram: - Bob Babbitt YouTube: Bob Babbitt videos

In part two of this special interview, Bob Babbitt gives his thoughts on triathlon coverage, why long distance coverage doesn't engage with non triathlon fans, his work with the Challenges Athletes Foundation and his friendship with Poncho man. You'll hear 06:00 We talk about the coverage of long distance triathlon, because Bob tweeted after the Ironman St George World Championships: "Triathlon cannot be considered a big time sport until our big events receive rights fees. When that happens everything changes" The problem is that other sports TV pays to broadcast them, golf, Tour de France. At this point, Ironman pays for coverage. And for our sport to get where it needs to be, there needs to be money coming in. Maybe it's pay per view dollars. You aren't going to get terrestrial TV covering 140.6 miles. But it's stories that drive new people into triathlon. In terms of people just watching the pros, will someone pay for that? Will someone pay for 8, 9 10 hours on terrestrial television? 08:12 How does triathlon engage non-triathlon fans? 17:51 Why are people happy to watch a grand-slam tennis final that lasts for 4-5 hours? What is missing from triathlon in comparison? Why do people watch the TdF all day long? 22:42 Does it hurt Bob that triathlon and the athletes don't get the attention that he feels they should? 32:00 Bob talks about the Challenged Athletes Foundation and what it means to him to be and co-founder of it and still heavily involved in changing other people's lives. 35:45 Bob gets choked up when he talks about the friendship between Laura Siddall and Lauren Parker. 42:00 Who will fill Bob's boots with Breakfast with Bob? 43:20 We talk about poncho man Find out more about this week's guests Bob Babbitt https://twitter.com/bob_babbitt (Twitter) Bob Babbitt https://babbittville.com/ (website) https://www.challengedathletes.org/ (Challenged Athletes Foundation) Like what you heard? Let me know! Connect with Inside Tri Show across Social Media, just search Inside Tri Show or click on the icons below https://www.patreon.com/insidetrishow (GET YOUR HANDS ON AN EXCLUSIVE EPISODE!) Sign up to be a vino buddy or a training buddy on Patreon and get your hands on two patrons-only episodes a year. Or just support the show by buying Helen a coffee every month by https://www.patreon.com/insidetrishow (becoming a coffee buddy Patreon of the Inside Tri Show). Sponsors of the show Resilient Nutrition provide formulated products to improve your cognitive and physical performance. From phenomenally tasty Long Range Fuel nut butters, to delicious dark chocolate drink Switch On. Get 10% off by using the code insidetri10 or go direct https://resilientnutrition.com/discount/insidetri10 (via this link). Supporters of the show Get 10% off sun cream and skin protection use the code insidetri at www.lifejacketskin.com You can also get a discount at https://my.captivate.fm/www.komfuel.co.uk (komfuel.co.uk) with the code insidetri https://www.33fuel.com/ (33 Fuel) – natural and very yummy sports nutrition. Use the code INSIDETRI33 for a discount at checkout at https://www.33fuel.com/ (www.33fuel.com) Find out more about Helen Head over to https://www.helenmurray.net/ (Helen's website) to find out more about her This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Liz Ann Kurdrna, Pilates instructor, feels like her emotional recovery from a rock climbing injury is ongoing yet "knowing that I have to show up for someone else…by teaching…it helps. It helps you uncover the stronger part of yourself." In this podcast episode, Liz Ann talks about her lifelong love of rock climbing as well as her participation in other outdoor activities such as swimming, snow skiing, and cycling. In Montana, where she's lived for the past 20+ years, she teaches online and in-person Pilates. Liz Ann has competed in local Triathlon events with the Challenged Athletes Foundation. In this video, Liz Ann demonstrates a few Pilates Breathwork exercises. To learn more about Liz Ann's online classes, check her website. You can register for her Seated Pilates class sponsored by BORP.

Bob Babbitt's name is synonymous with the sport of triathlon. Bob did his first Ironman in Hawaii in the very early days in the early 80s and has been hooked on triathlon ever since, both as a competitor and on the media side of it too. He's passionate about sharing people's stories, he loves having Breakfast with the pros and he is passionately devoted to the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which he helped to co-found. You'll hear 12:00 Why is Breakfast with Bob such a highlight for athletes? It's a mutual respect and I feel some of my job is to share their stories. 17:39 Does Bob ever get nervous before interviews? Not really, as long as I'm prepared. 19:00 We talk about actor Robin Williams and how he got involved with the Challenged Athletes Foundation. 24:00 Are you a quiet person away from the mic Bob? No, I'm a people person. I like to meet people, I like to find out what makes them tick. 27:14 Do you appreciate how instrumental you have been in the sport of triathlon and to get stories out there? 28:55 What would you say to the people who told you triathlon was a fad in the 1980s? 33:34 Why did Bob believe in triathlon so much? 38:04 Does Ironman care about professional athletes? 41:44 What do you think the future looks like for Ironman? "I think it looks great. Just seeing this group of young athletes having immediate success, there are so many cool things happening. My one main concern is that too many people are doing too many Ironmans. My concern is that you look at Dave Scott, heart issues, Greg Welch, heart issues. so what happens with our athletes now who are doing 5 or 6 Ironmans a year for multiple years. Find out more about this week's guests Bob Babbitt https://twitter.com/bob_babbitt (Twitter) Bob Babbitt https://babbittville.com/ (website) https://www.challengedathletes.org/ (Challenged Athletes Foundation) Like what you heard? Let me know! Connect with Inside Tri Show across Social Media, just search Inside Tri Show or click on the icons below https://www.patreon.com/insidetrishow (GET YOUR HANDS ON AN EXCLUSIVE EPISODE!) Sign up to be a vino buddy or a training buddy on Patreon and get your hands on two patrons-only episodes a year. Or just support the show by buying Helen a coffee every month by https://www.patreon.com/insidetrishow (becoming a coffee buddy Patreon of the Inside Tri Show). Sponsors of the show Resilient Nutrition provide formulated products to improve your cognitive and physical performance. From phenomenally tasty Long Range Fuel nut butters, to delicious dark chocolate drink Switch On. Get 10% off by using the code insidetri10 or go direct https://resilientnutrition.com/discount/insidetri10 (via this link). Supporters of the show Get 10% off sun cream and skin protection use the code insidetri at https://my.captivate.fm/www.lifejacketskin.com (www.lifejacketskin.com) You can also get a discount at https://my.captivate.fm/www.komfuel.co.uk (komfuel.co.uk) with the code insidetri https://www.33fuel.com/ (33 Fuel) – natural and very yummy sports nutrition. Use the code INSIDETRI33 for a discount at checkout at https://www.33fuel.com/ (www.33fuel.com) Find out more about Helen Head over to https://www.helenmurray.net/ (Helen's website) to find out more about her This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

After Army Staff Sgt. Kisha Makerney made it safely back home after serving in Iraq, she had a motorcycle accident that led to the amputation of her left leg. Not having anyone tell her what she couldn't do paved the way everything she could, including support from Operation Rebound: CAF through Challenged Athletes Foundation!

Bob Babbitt- a name synonymous with triathlon.  Bob was one of the original Ironman athletes, before it moved to Kona, before timing chips.  When you stopped at gas stations while you were riding to find food.  He is in the Ironman and USAT Hall of Fame.  He started Competitor Magazine and of course, you might know him from his famous "Breakfast with Bob" series.  He also founded the Challenge Athletes Foundation and we talk a lot about that and the amazing work the Foundation does.  Bob is a storyteller and he seems to know everyone and help everyone.  This episode is one story after another and it was so fun to talk to Bob Babbit.  Have a listen! Challenged Athletes Foundation: https://www.challengedathletes.org Movie trailer on Landis Sims: https://vimeo.com/493454475/2627b5e2f1  

Welcome to Episode #336 of the 303 Endurance Podcast. You are listening to your weekly connection to coaches, experts, and pro athletes to help you reach your endurance goals. We're your hosts coach Rich Soares and 303 Chief Bill Plock. Thanks for joining us for another week of endurance interviews and discussion.   Show Sponsor: UCAN Take your performance to the next level with UCAN Energy and Bars made with SuperStarch®  UCAN uses SuperStarch instead of simple sugars to fuel athletes.  UCAN keeps blood sugar steady compared to the energy spikes and crashes of sugar-based products.  Steady energy equals sustained performance!       Use UCAN in your training and racing to fuel the healthy way, finish stronger and recover more quickly!  Use the code 303UCAN for 20% off at ucan.co/discount/303UCAN/ or ucan.co     In Today's Show Feature Coaching Topic How Testing Makes You Faster Endurance News IRONMAN World Championship Results Utah Sports Commission Expected To Create Total Economic Impact Of More Than $35m Dollars PTO Pro Am, to be held this Sunday 15 May at the Herbalife24 Triathlon Los Angeles What's new in the 303 Triathlon Races in Colorado this Season Video of the Week TBD   Our News is sponsored by Buddy Insurance. Buddy Insurance gives you peace of mind to enjoy your training and racing to the fullest. Buddy's mission is simple, to help people fearlessly enjoy an active and outdoor lifestyle.    Get on-demand accident insurance just in case the unexpected happens. Buddy ensures you have cash for bills fast.  This is accident insurance not health and life insurance.  Go to buddyinsurance.com and create an account.  There's no commitment or charge to create one.  Once you have an account created, it's a snap to open your phone and in a couple clicks have coverage for the day.  Check it out!   Training Discussion: Regular Testing   Regular testing to determine your threshold intensities in each discipline is an important (arguably essential) practice to getting faster. This works for new and experienced athletes. Newer athletes may find this a bit demanding, but it will help you get faster, faster. Testing regularly is particularly helpful for athletes who have some experience and find themselves plateauing in their performance.   Here's how the cycle works. Take bike power for example. You want to take a baseline FTP test to determine your  Functional Threshold Power. FTP is theoretically the power in Watts you can average for 45-60 minutes. This FTP becomes an anchor point for determining your training zones. Having accurately determined training zones is important for making sure you do prescribed training in the right zones.   For example, if you want to increase your threshold power you need to train at that Z4 Threshold zone to train your body to process muscle lactate efficiently. The more time you spend in that zone, the more adaptation you get. Without the FTP number or accurate substitute, you may be training in the wrong zone (eg Z3 or Z5), neither of which create the same adaptation of teaching your body to improve lactate processing and increasing your capacity to do work. Training regularly and progressively overloading the correct training zones over the course of 3 weeks on the 4th week you retest. If things are working, the next FTP test is at a higher average power than the one 4 weeks earlier. You then adjust the training zones. In this case increasing the power ranges for each zone. Another 3 weeks of training at the new (accurate) zones causes another adaptation, another test, another increase, another adjustment to training zones, etc.   Swim: Perform a 400 time trial effort from a push (not dive). Recover for 10 to 15 minutes with easy swimming and rest. Perform a 200 time trial effort from a push. Looking to calculate CSS or CV as Meters or Yards Per Minute. The higher the number the faster your are. If you go real fast on the 200 and real slow on the 400 - that counts against you. Your 200 should be about 6% faster than the 400.   Bike Power on a trainer is best 20 or 45 minute Or 15 miles without power   Run: 5k Time Trial as if racing Do on a track or flat course Always repeat on the same track or course if possible   How to execute a perfectly paced test. Consider how big of an improvement over the last two tests in that discipline. Consider how well the athlete is training at Z4 and Z5. Start with the average pace or power from the previous test and set a reasonable increase as the target pace or power. Execute at that power or pace start to finish. Don't start faster.   Excerpt from Swim Test Pacing: For the 200 target 58 seconds per lap which will put you close to 1:56/100 pace or 3:51 200. For the 400 target 59 seconds per lap for the first 4 and 60 seconds per lap for the last 4. If you feel you have some gas increase the stroke rate on the last lap.   If you want to talk further about how to test regularly to get better results, reach out at Rich@303colorado.com or message @tripodcasterrich   Check out the TriDot Free Trial https://app.tridot.com/onboard/sign-up/richsoares   Endurance News:   Ironman World Championships St. George results Utah Sports Commission Expected To Create Total Economic Impact Of More Than $35m Dollars   PTO Pro Am, to be held this Sunday 15 May at the Herbalife24 Triathlon Los Angeles and streamed live for free around the world The event will see six of the world's top professional athletes race an Olympic-distance course alongside Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) athletes and special guests including former UFC star Paul Felder and Olympic silver medallist Heather Fell. CAF athletes will kick-start the day with a 1500m swim in the beautiful pearlescent sea off Venice Beach. Once out of the water, they'll tag in a highly-ranked PTO professional who'll rip up the road over a 40km bike course finishing in downtown LA between the Crypto.com Arena and Microsoft Square, outside the Herbalife Nutrition HQ. From here, another CAF superstar, or one of our special guests, will complete a 10km run to close out this first-ever PTO Pro Am event.   TEAMS REVEALED The PTO is proud to work alongside the Challenged Athletes Foundation to celebrate life through sport at the first PTO Pro Am. The six teams taking on the challenge of the PTO Pro Am in LA are:   Swimming and track runner Haven Shepherd, PTO World #3 Lionel Sanders and former UFC star Paul Felder. Swimmer and para climber Emily Gray, PTO World #8 Sam Long and swimmer and para-triathlete Rudy Garcia-Tolson. Para-triathlete Allysa Seely, PTO World #4 Daniel Baekkegard and GTN presenter and Olympic silver medallist Heather Fell. Swimmer Ahalya Lettenberger, PTO World #11 Holly Lawrence and swimmer and para-triathlete Roderick Sewell. Para-triathlete and hand cyclist Andre Kajlich, PTO World #7 Skye Moench and influencer and Herbalife ambassador Shirley Alvarez. Para-triathlete Chris Hammer, PTO World #14 Heather Jackson and para-triathlete, cyclist and marathoner Willie Stewart.     What's New in the 303: Upcoming Multisport Events in Colorado (runningintheusa.com) Upcoming Classic Races in Colorado (runningintheusa.com) Colfax Marathon   Video of the Week: Ironman World Championship St.George 2022 | Race Movie     Closing: Thanks again for listening in this week.  Please be sure to follow us @303endurance and of course go to iTunes and give us a rating and a comment.  We'd really appreciate it! Stay tuned, train informed, and enjoy the endurance journey!

Welcome to Episode #336 of the 303 Endurance Podcast. You are listening to your weekly connection to coaches, experts, and pro athletes to help you reach your endurance goals. We're your hosts coach Rich Soares and 303 Chief Bill Plock. Thanks for joining us for another week of endurance interviews and discussion.   Show Sponsor: UCAN Take your performance to the next level with UCAN Energy and Bars made with SuperStarch®  UCAN uses SuperStarch instead of simple sugars to fuel athletes.  UCAN keeps blood sugar steady compared to the energy spikes and crashes of sugar-based products.  Steady energy equals sustained performance!       Use UCAN in your training and racing to fuel the healthy way, finish stronger and recover more quickly!  Use the code 303UCAN for 20% off at ucan.co/discount/303UCAN/ or ucan.co     In Today's Show Feature Coaching Topic How Testing Makes You Faster Endurance News IRONMAN World Championship Results Utah Sports Commission Expected To Create Total Economic Impact Of More Than $35m Dollars PTO Pro Am, to be held this Sunday 15 May at the Herbalife24 Triathlon Los Angeles What's new in the 303 Triathlon Races in Colorado this Season Video of the Week TBD   Our News is sponsored by Buddy Insurance. Buddy Insurance gives you peace of mind to enjoy your training and racing to the fullest. Buddy's mission is simple, to help people fearlessly enjoy an active and outdoor lifestyle.    Get on-demand accident insurance just in case the unexpected happens. Buddy ensures you have cash for bills fast.  This is accident insurance not health and life insurance.  Go to buddyinsurance.com and create an account.  There's no commitment or charge to create one.  Once you have an account created, it's a snap to open your phone and in a couple clicks have coverage for the day.  Check it out!   Training Discussion: Regular Testing   Regular testing to determine your threshold intensities in each discipline is an important (arguably essential) practice to getting faster. This works for new and experienced athletes. Newer athletes may find this a bit demanding, but it will help you get faster, faster. Testing regularly is particularly helpful for athletes who have some experience and find themselves plateauing in their performance.   Here's how the cycle works. Take bike power for example. You want to take a baseline FTP test to determine your  Functional Threshold Power. FTP is theoretically the power in Watts you can average for 45-60 minutes. This FTP becomes an anchor point for determining your training zones. Having accurately determined training zones is important for making sure you do prescribed training in the right zones.   For example, if you want to increase your threshold power you need to train at that Z4 Threshold zone to train your body to process muscle lactate efficiently. The more time you spend in that zone, the more adaptation you get. Without the FTP number or accurate substitute, you may be training in the wrong zone (eg Z3 or Z5), neither of which create the same adaptation of teaching your body to improve lactate processing and increasing your capacity to do work. Training regularly and progressively overloading the correct training zones over the course of 3 weeks on the 4th week you retest. If things are working, the next FTP test is at a higher average power than the one 4 weeks earlier. You then adjust the training zones. In this case increasing the power ranges for each zone. Another 3 weeks of training at the new (accurate) zones causes another adaptation, another test, another increase, another adjustment to training zones, etc.   Swim: Perform a 400 time trial effort from a push (not dive). Recover for 10 to 15 minutes with easy swimming and rest. Perform a 200 time trial effort from a push. Looking to calculate CSS or CV as Meters or Yards Per Minute. The higher the number the faster your are. If you go real fast on the 200 and real slow on the 400 - that counts against you. Your 200 should be about 6% faster than the 400.   Bike Power on a trainer is best 20 or 45 minute Or 15 miles without power   Run: 5k Time Trial as if racing Do on a track or flat course Always repeat on the same track or course if possible   How to execute a perfectly paced test. Consider how big of an improvement over the last two tests in that discipline. Consider how well the athlete is training at Z4 and Z5. Start with the average pace or power from the previous test and set a reasonable increase as the target pace or power. Execute at that power or pace start to finish. Don't start faster.   Excerpt from Swim Test Pacing: For the 200 target 58 seconds per lap which will put you close to 1:56/100 pace or 3:51 200. For the 400 target 59 seconds per lap for the first 4 and 60 seconds per lap for the last 4. If you feel you have some gas increase the stroke rate on the last lap.   If you want to talk further about how to test regularly to get better results, reach out at Rich@303colorado.com or message @tripodcasterrich   Check out the TriDot Free Trial https://app.tridot.com/onboard/sign-up/richsoares   Endurance News:   Ironman World Championships St. George results Utah Sports Commission Expected To Create Total Economic Impact Of More Than $35m Dollars   PTO Pro Am, to be held this Sunday 15 May at the Herbalife24 Triathlon Los Angeles and streamed live for free around the world The event will see six of the world's top professional athletes race an Olympic-distance course alongside Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) athletes and special guests including former UFC star Paul Felder and Olympic silver medallist Heather Fell. CAF athletes will kick-start the day with a 1500m swim in the beautiful pearlescent sea off Venice Beach. Once out of the water, they'll tag in a highly-ranked PTO professional who'll rip up the road over a 40km bike course finishing in downtown LA between the Crypto.com Arena and Microsoft Square, outside the Herbalife Nutrition HQ. From here, another CAF superstar, or one of our special guests, will complete a 10km run to close out this first-ever PTO Pro Am event.   TEAMS REVEALED The PTO is proud to work alongside the Challenged Athletes Foundation to celebrate life through sport at the first PTO Pro Am. The six teams taking on the challenge of the PTO Pro Am in LA are:   Swimming and track runner Haven Shepherd, PTO World #3 Lionel Sanders and former UFC star Paul Felder. Swimmer and para climber Emily Gray, PTO World #8 Sam Long and swimmer and para-triathlete Rudy Garcia-Tolson. Para-triathlete Allysa Seely, PTO World #4 Daniel Baekkegard and GTN presenter and Olympic silver medallist Heather Fell. Swimmer Ahalya Lettenberger, PTO World #11 Holly Lawrence and swimmer and para-triathlete Roderick Sewell. Para-triathlete and hand cyclist Andre Kajlich, PTO World #7 Skye Moench and influencer and Herbalife ambassador Shirley Alvarez. Para-triathlete Chris Hammer, PTO World #14 Heather Jackson and para-triathlete, cyclist and marathoner Willie Stewart.     What's New in the 303: Upcoming Multisport Events in Colorado (runningintheusa.com) Upcoming Classic Races in Colorado (runningintheusa.com) Colfax Marathon   Video of the Week: Ironman World Championship St.George 2022 | Race Movie   Closing: Thanks again for listening in this week.  Please be sure to follow us @303endurance and of course go to iTunes and give us a rating and a comment.  We'd really appreciate it! Stay tuned, train informed, and enjoy the endurance journey!

He is a former champion triathlete and today, he is dedicating his life to helping disabled athletes become champions. The head of the Challenged Athletes Foundation, Bob Babbitt, is this week's guest on Amazing Americans.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With multiple recent 8-figure jury verdicts in difficult cases, Sean Claggett is truly on a roll. But nothing Sean has accomplished is an accident.  It is the culmination of his own personal journey to re-invent himself as a master trial lawyer and to pioneer the use of data-driven decision-making to maximize his results.  Join us for our conversation with Sean as we explore his uniquely successful approach to winning at trial.We begin with a discussion of Sean's background and journey to becoming a trial lawyer.  He recounts how he gave up trying cases and moved on to other things, before deciding to recommit himself to trial practice.  With his newfound commitment, Sean spent several years learning as much as he could about trial strategy and technique and rehearsing his approach with regular focus groups.  Armed with newfound confidence, Sean re-entered the courtroom and has had unparalleled success.Along the way, Sean explains how he adopted a data-driven approach to preparing for trial, using so-called "big data" metrics to identify his best trial cases, determine his likely win ratio and guide his approach to asking for money.The results speak for themselves.About Sean ClaggettSean Claggett is an established Las Vegas personal injury attorney and handles difficult cases across the country. Sean founded Claggett & Sykes Law Firm in 2005, and is the firm's lead trial lawyer.In 2017, Sean was recognized by his fellow trial lawyers of the Nevada Justice Association as Nevada's Trial Attorney of the Year.PROVEN TRIAL SUCCESSIn 2016, Sean had the fourth most influential verdict in the United States according to Courtroom View Network, stemming from a slip and fall at Lowe's in which his client suffered a TBI after she slipped, fell, and knocked down a three-foot yellow warning cone. Lowe's top offer before the verdict was $1,400,000.00, and the referring plaintiff attorney offered to resolve the case for $1,749,999.99. The jury returned a verdict in the amount of $16,430,000.00.Sean's trial success continued with two verdicts in 2018 in the amounts of $20,000,000.00 and $3,382,000.00. Sean's verdict of $20,000,000.00 was recognized as the fourth most influential verdict in the United States according to Courtroom View Network, stemming from a negligence case against an HOA for failing to maintain its swing set. The HOA's top offer before trial was $400,000.00, and the referring plaintiff offered the HOA to resolve the case for $949,000.00. The plaintiff in the case suffered a TBI.Sean's trial success continued in 2019 as he obtained a verdict of $645,814.33 in which there was a 16-day gap in treatment after the initial wreck, and then, after eight months of physical therapy treatment, there was a three and a half year gap in treatment before the plaintiff obtained further treatment for his back injury. The top offer from the defense was $50,000.00, and the referring attorney agreed to accept $180,000.00 to resolve the case prior to trial.Later that year, Sean received an honorable mention from Courtroom View Network as having one of the year's most impressive trials for his work on a medical malpractice trial where his client suffered a TBI. Sean asked for $63,000,000.00 in closing arguments and the case settled before the jury returned a verdict.In 2020, Courtroom View Network named Sean to its “Who We're Watching” list. Courtroom View Network says that after more than a decade of capturing trials for its streaming network, the lawyers on this list are its best of the best of the decade and are the lawyers that other lawyers should watch if they're looking to improve their craft.In 2021, Sean obtained a $38,750,000 verdict on behalf the mother of an 11-year girl who was killed by a garbage truck while crossing the street in a marked crosswalk. The top defense offer before trial was $1,000,000.EDUCATIONSean is a proud graduate from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In 2000, he received a Bachelor or Arts in Political Science. Soon after, he graduated cum laude from UNLV's William S. Boyd School of Law in 2003. During his time at the Boyd School of Law, he was a staff editor of the Nevada Law Journal as well as a member of the National Moot Court team. As a law student he won the Society of Advocates oral argument competition.After graduating from Boyd School of Law, Sean was employed at a high-profile criminal defense law firm. After working for this firm for over two and a half years, Sean made the decision to start his own firm. On January 1, 2005, Sean opened his own law firm with a single client and one employee. Today Claggett & Sykes Law Firm has over 40 employees, including 15 attorneys.AWARDSIn 2009, Sean was elected by his peers to serve on the board of the Boyd School of Law Alumni Association. Sean has served as both the Vice President and President of this board. In 2010, Sean was named Alumni of the Year for the Boyd School of Law, which is the highest and most prestigious alumni award given by the school.Sean has also been recognized by Legal Aid of Southern Nevada for his Pro Bono work he has done over the year and also acts as an arbitrator for personal injury cases throughout the Las Vegas area. Additionally, in 2013, Sean became an adjunct professor at UNLV Boyd School of Law, where he currently teaches Law Practice Management.Sean spent several years as a dean and as a faculty member of a trial college where he taught thousands of other trial lawyers from across the country. Sean has been recognized by many attorneys as one of the top trial attorneys in Nevada and was named Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2017 by his peers. It is no wonder that attorneys all over the country have requested him to consult or co-counsel on cases that are proceeding to trial.Sean's success as a trial lawyer has allowed him to expand his philanthropic passion. Sean and his firm have donated both time and money to charities such as the Challenged Athletes Foundation, HELP of Southern Nevada, Three Square, Child Seekers, March of Dimes, Greg Maddux Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, and Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada, just to name a few.In his spare time, Sean enjoys cycling, playing and coaching baseball, traveling, and spending time with his wife and two kids.About the Elawvate PodcastThe Elawvate Podcast – Where Trial Lawyers Learn, Share, and Grow is where the practice of trial law meets personal growth. To succeed as a trial lawyer and build a successful law firm requires practice skills, strategic thinking and some amount of business and entrepreneurial savvy. Elawvate is a place to learn and share skills and strategies for success.But it is also a place to dig deeper and achieve personal growth.Those who succeed as trial lawyers at the highest levels cultivate character, principle, integrity, leadership, courage, compassion and perseverance.  We learn and draw inspiration from those who have achieved this success.For more about Elawvate, visit our website at www.elawvate.fm.  You can also  join our Facebook Group at Elawvate | FacebookFor more information or to contact the hosts, see:(Rahul Ravipudi (psblaw.com) (Ben Gideon | Gideon Asen LLC) 

This is a special episode of the Penny Forward podcast prompted by a post to the Penny Forward Facebook group. Kaiti Shelton wondered if we could do an episode on fitness on a budget. We thought that was a great idea, and we decided to collaborate with Greg Linberg of the Eyes Free Sports podcast to pull together a panel of fitness experts and enthusiasts who are all blind to talk about fitness on a budget including exercising at home Vs. at a gym, participating in solo Vs. team sports, and exercising with and without equipment. Some resources mentioned in the show were: bodybuilding.com, United States Association of Blind Athletes, Challenged Athletes Foundation, Move United, and Achilles International. A full text transcript of this episode can be found at http://pennyforward.com/penny-forward-transcript-s2e9-fitness-on-a-budget/ Do you have a fitness or budgeting tip you'd like to share? Continue the conversation in the Penny Forward Facebook group, a safe space to get support from the Penny Forward community. The Penny Forward podcast is about blind people building bright futures one penny at a time. Subscribe by searching for “Penny Forward” using your favorite podcast app, ask your smart speaker to play the podcast, “Penny Forward”, check out the Penny Forward YouTube channel, or listen to all of our past episodes and read full text transcripts at http://pennyforward.com/podcast Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/pennyforward)

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://thecitylife.org/2021/10/21/annual-empire-state-building-run-up-presented-by-turkish-airlines-powered-by-the-challenged-athletes-foundation-returns-on-oct-26/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/support

John Mabry's story of addiction begins where most people's end. At 22, he was involved in a horrific SUV accident that claimed his right leg as well as the life of his friend. (The vehicle flipped 10 times in less than 10 seconds.) It's the sort of shocking, violent twist that takes place in Act 2 in most screenplays about substance abuse. Not for Mabry. This happened during the opening credits of his life story. It wasn't until after John survived the accident that he found himself in a private hell of painkillers and alcohol that very nearly took everything he held dear. Years later, his bout with addiction has become the backbone of a remarkable recovery, which now sees him as a counselor, motivational speaker, triathlete (yes, you read that right), and a proud, married father of three who uses his past weaknesses as present strengths. It's clear that John Mabry hasn't simply learned to use a prosthetic leg so much as learn how to walk, fearlessly and courageously, through life. I also started working for a non-profit called the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which I still do some work with. They're in San Diego. We raise money for people with physical disabilities access to sports. They've funded tens of thousands of dollars to me over the years for sports equipment and a running leg. In turn, I've been able to help raise money for things like wheelchairs for kids' wheelchair basketball teams. It's great to work alongside a charity with a meaningful purpose. I even got a master's in counseling to get myself in a position to help other people.   Skydiving, triathlons, snow skiing. I continue to push myself physically. Crossfit took a toll on my good leg, which I have arthritis in. Now it's boxing at Title Boxing, which has been challenging. Really good therapeutic outlet to let go of steam. I frequently quote Scent of a Woman, when Al Pacino's Lt. Col. Frank Slade says, “There is nothing like the sight of an amputated spirit. There is no prosthetic for that.” I think so many people today struggle with disabling events in their lives that they don't feel they can share with others or find the strength to face them. Maybe something in their past has caused shame, disappointment, or unmet expectations. Loneliness is a big one. Especially with millennials. Everything's gotta look good on social media. All the filters. Or, “Oh, that angle didn't work. Let's try it again so I look thinner.” It's really just about “If you're struggling—it's okay. It's not ok to cover up your struggles by endlessly checking your phone, turning to food, toxic relationships, or any other addictive behavior. If you need help, ask for it.” You don't have to work through your struggles alone.

Bridgestone is proud to serve as a Worldwide Paralympic Partner to promote diversity and inclusivity through sport, and it works with a trio of adaptive sports groups in North America to extend these efforts into its local communities. This episode of THRIVE is hosted by Zac Ellis while our regular host Keith Cawley (whose day job involves managing communications for our sports partnerships) takes a turn in the guest seat to talk about how these partnerships are making a difference. They are joined by Team Bridgestone athlete and Challenged Athletes Foundation ambassador Scout Bassett, whose inspiring personal journey as a Paralympian continues to inspire young adaptive athletes to chase their own dreams.

Rudy Garcia-Tolson was born with multiple congenital disabilities and endured fifteen surgeries by the age of five before he told his parents he wanted a double leg amputation. At the age of eight, he had the goal of becoming a Paralympian, and eight years later, he made it happen startlingly when he swam for gold at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games. He is a five-time Paralympian and has won two gold, two silver, and a bronze medal. He has also won 6 medals at the World Championships. Rudy was the first double above-knee amputee to compete in an Ironman Triathlon in 2009. He is a tireless advocate for the disabled community through his work with the Challenged Athletes Foundation. You can follow Rudy's journey on Instagram - @rudygarciatolson, Twitter - @RudyGTcaf, Facebook - Rudy Garcia- Tolson, or his website www.thinkrudy.com.Sports Saved My Life is produced by Angel City SportsClayton Frech is the Executive ProducerDave Pantano is the Producer and EditorMackenzie Soldan is in charge of MarketingTony Memmel wrote and performed the theme songAbout Angel City SportsAngel City Sports provides free, year-round adaptive sport clinics, equipment, and competitive opportunities for kids, adults, and veterans with physical disabilities or visual impairments. Angel City Sports' flagship event, the annual Angel City Games presented by The Hartford, debuted in 2015 and is now the largest multi-sport Paralympic competition in the U.S. for kids, adults, and veterans. Participants include, but are not limited to, individuals with limb differences and amputation, spinal cord injury, quadriplegia, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, blindness or visual impairment, traumatic brain injury, stroke, muscular dystrophy, and dwarfism or short stature. Ultimately, Angel City Sports is working to create a community and sense of belonging for people with physical disabilities, supporting them to reach their full potential and unlock their dreams through its programming in sport, the arts, health and wellness, higher education, career opportunities, and personal development. To learn more, please visit http://www.angelcitysports.org and follow @angelcitysports on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linked-in, and YouTube. 

Tokyo 2020 has been one of the better olympic tournaments for Ghanaians, who haven't won a medal since 1992. On today's episode, we explore a couple of Athletes who have setup startups or social enterprises on the back of their athletic careers including:Emmanuel Yeboah - A Ghanaian athlete and Disability rights advocate who won awards from  Nike 's Casey Martin award and CAF ( Challenged Athletes Foundation ) Nadia Eke - A Ghanaian- Nigerian athlete who specialises in the Triple Jump and is the founder of AxxcelerateIf you have an opinion you want to share, please get in touch with us on social media, on Linkedin or instagram or email on info@thesoundofaccra.comVisit: https://thesoundofaccra.comAll links: https://linktr.ee/thesoundofaccrapodSupport the show

1. 21 Day Mindfulness Experience page: https://movement-rx.com/mindfulness-experience/ 2. FREE Journal/Guide to the 21 Day Experience (goes up to 70 days): https://movement-rx.com/mindfulness-experience-journal/. Dr. Theresa Larson (aka “Dr. T”) has become one of the healthcare and fitness world's most sought after experts on movement health. Dr. Larson earned her doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Saint Augustine in San Diego, CA. A former Marine Corps Engineer Officer and Combat Veteran, Theresa also played professional softball in Italy as well as semi-professional softball in the United States. Theresa founded Movement Rx with her husband in 2013 in order to break free from the limitations that traditional physical therapy puts on practitioners and patients. The result was a company where skilled practitioners can authentically treat patients with the time, care, and movement education they deserve. Dr. Larson is determined to deliver movement and mindset health to as many people as possible with her team – including adaptive athletes, as she is an adaptive athlete herself. She is a motivational speaker for companies, helping individuals and teams understand that change is possible and leadership starts within. She also presents on movement and mobility internationally and is the co-creator and lead instructor of the popular Functional Training for Adaptive Athletes program. She recently authored a memoir (WARRIOR) that was published through Harper One, an imprint of Harper Collins. In addition to her practice, wellness and speaking efforts, Dr. Larson is a huge advocate for Challenged Athletes Foundation, Team Red White and Blue, a veteran non-profit, National Eating Disorder Association, CrossRoads Adaptive Athlete Alliance, and Resiliency Project. Theresa's mission is to deliver crucial information to people who need it the most. Anybody who has gone through loss, trauma, or a major change in their life needs to find their new normal again. Through ADAPT Media and the “My New Normal” podcast, she offers stories of motivation and strength, overcoming hardship, and information on injuries from some of the top professionals and organizations in the world. She believes that our ability to optimally adapt to a new normal is a choice. As the Dalai Lama says, “beautiful things don't come without some suffering.” Topics Covered: -Movement Rx Vision -Working w/ vets & military -21 Day Mindfulness Experience page: https://movement-rx.com/mindfulness-experience/ -FREE Journal/Guide to the 21 Day Experience (goes up to 70 days): https://movement-rx.com/mindfulness-experience-journal/ -Adaptive Course info coming up in Colorado: July 17-18th is our next course CEU Course https://movement-rx.com/advanced-adaptive-strengthening/ & FREE initial course https://movement-rx.com/nationwide-adaptive-training/

A lightning strike is more likely than the freak accident that took away months of Eduardo Garcia’s life and most of his left arm. But that fateful accident also left something behind: a second chance. If you haven’t seen the award-winning film “Charged,” watch it before listening to this podcast. The remarkable documentary tracks chef Eduardo Garcia before, during, and after a near-impossible accident in which he unwittingly touched a live, exposed electrical junction box. After 2,400 V entered and exited his body in an instant, Garcia was left on the brink of death. But that story, told so well in the film, was just the beginning. Garcia sat down with us to talk about survival and life after both the initial struggle and surprising fame have abated. Garcia now works with the Challenged Athletes Foundation, owns his own food brand (shout out to Montana Mex), and travels for speaking engagements (see his TED Talk here). He’s also an avid outdoorsman in the hunt, fish, run, hike, and surf spaces. Oh, and he hosts a cooking series. Clearly, nearly dying hasn’t put a stop to his living. That’s the story Garcia wants to share — and it’s a great listen. If you learn nothing else from this episode, remember to up your Cinco de Mayo game: Buy a tortilla press and some heirloom corn and make your own tortillas — Eduardo said so.

The Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) supports hundreds of permanently disabled athletes through grants and training programs. One of their programs, Operation Rebound, works solely with military personnel, veterans, and first responders. Before even leaving the hospital after the loss of his leg, Chappie Hunter, a San Diego Police Officer was approached by CAF to be part of Operation Rebound. This podcast focuses on how even if times are dark and hope is fading, personal strength, resiliency, and a supportive community can lead one out of the darkness. If you would like to learn more about the Natural Disaster & Emergency Management (NDEM) Expo please visit us on the web - https://www.ndemevent.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emnetwork.substack.com/subscribe

2X Masters Track World Champion, Kona Ironman competitor, Stages Master Educator, USAC Level 2 coach, author, and presenter, Lenita Anthony joins us to talk about how her outdoor experience and education in exercise physiology inform the way she teaches indoor classes. We talk about some common misconceptions about indoor cycling and being mindful of overtraining. Lenita tells us about a really cool foundation that's close to her heart and shares how you can get involved too. Learn more about Challenged Athletes Foundation at www.challengedathletes.org @stagesindoorcycling @stagescycling

Parenting with a Purpose (0:00:00) Raising kids in today's society can be daunting. Wrong is called right, smartphones replace human interaction, families are fractured, and children aren't maturing as quickly as they used to. In our ever-changing culture, parenting can sometimes feel like a losing battle, especially for those who are just starting their life as parents. To get some tips for parenting the right way, we're joined by speaker and author Arlene Pellicane.   Bronies (0:15:42) Have you ever watched really great show and thought—wait isn't this for kids? You're not alone. Many of you will remember scratching your head when "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" TV series first aired in 2010 and a group of fans emerged who looked a little different than the target audience. Referring to themselves as “bronies,” teen and adult males were really drawn to the show. Now, almost a decade later, with the show going into its ninth and final season, the craze has died down a bit, and the last BronyCon just happened last August. So what was driving this unprecedented cultural phenomena? What is the psychology behind fandoms? Here to tell us more is Dr. Daniel Chadborn, phycologist and researcher of fandoms and fanship.   Staying Motivated to Pay Off Debt (0:33:28) There is something nearly every American has in common, and unfortunately, that's debt. We live in a spending culture and the average American has about 38 thousand dollaars fo debt, not including their mortgage. How do we get the motivation to even start digging ourselves out of this hole? Jen Smith, founder of Modern Frugality, understands this feeling all too well. She and her husband looked at paying off $78,000 of debt. Jen joins us to share how she and her husband found motivation to pay off their debt in under two years, and how that motivation is attainable for you.   Talking to Strangers (0:50:41) They tell you as a kid not to talk to strangers, but what are you missing out on by listening to that advice? A recent study showed that when commuters in Chicago strike up a conversation with a stranger, they actually enjoyed their commute more. Are there other benefits to talking to strangers? What are we missing out on when we stay quiet? Here to teach us how to connect with strangers is Nicholas Boothman, expert in communication and author of "How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less."   Challenged Athletes Foundation (1:05:14) Have you ever been inspired by the Paralympics or anathlete with a prosthetic limb or a debilitating injury? There are so many touching stories about these athletes that motivate people around the globe, but what goes on behind the scenes? Who helps pay for the costs of specially engineered devices? Who helps acquire prosthetics? Who mentors and empathizes with these every day heroes? Today, we have the Bob Babbit, co-founder of Challenged Althetes Foundation, who is one of the behind the scenes advocates that helps take care of all of those little details that go in to giving disabled athletes the opportunity to live their best lives.   Making Good (1:24:17) Watching the news or scrolling through your feed can often lead you to feel depressed or overwhelmed with the state of the world. Amidst all of the turmoil, do you ever wonder where the good people are, and how you can be one of them? Actor and musician Kirby Heyborne joins us today to talk about his new show, Making Good, that features hardworking, kind people all across America that do their part to add joy and relief to the world.

The Challenged Athletes Foundation has been providing opportunities for athletic achievement for people with physical challenges. In Idaho, the CAF helps to fund grants providing adaptive sporting equipment and training as well as host events. Idaho Matters talks with CAF's national spokesman, Willie Stewart and Jennifer Skeesick, the Idaho regional director with CAF.