The Mindset HACKS Used To Complete 5 Triathlons & Row SOLO Across The Atlantic Ocean w/Katie Spotz EP 1242

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Bank of America, official bank of FIFA Club World Cup 2025. Copyright 2025 Bank of America Corporation, all rights reserved. Father's Day is coming up, and for lots of dads out there, dad doesn't quite cover it. They're groundskeepers, patio whisperers, and rogue leaf vigilantes too. So this year, show dad some love with gifts from the Home Depot. They've got fast, free delivery on handy gear that helps dad do his thing. We're talking Ryobi cordless outdoor tools like the Ryobi 40 volt expanded string trimmer. Find the perfect Father's Day gift at the Home Depot. Shop in store and online at homedepot.com, free delivery subject to availability. Fuel your greatness with wonderful pistachios, no shells. Wonderful pistachios is a great source of protein with zero guilt. Each one ounce serving has six grams of protein, giving over 10% of your daily value. Pistachios are known for their protein power, fiber, and better for you unsaturated fats for a combination that may help keep you feeling fuller longer. And now there's a new way to snack strong with unsalted no shells holding the salt, not the flavor for a snack that packs a protein punch. Visit wonderfulpistachios.com to learn more. This is episode number 1,242 with Katie Spotts. Welcome to the School of Of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. Welcome back, my friend. Today's guest is the inspiring Katie Spots. and the list of accomplishments to her name is so long, and it includes five Ironman triathlons, running 100 miles nonstop, cycling across the United States twice, a 325 mile river swim, running across deserts in a solo row across the Atlantic Ocean. That's right, she went alone across the Atlantic Ocean. She's a woman on the move, and so I'm grateful to have her on the show today. And in this episode, we discuss how to find your calling and pursue it. even when you're not sure what you're supposed to do in this life. How to shift your mindset when you're going through extremely challenging and tough times. How to reach a flow state in any aspect of your life. Why pain and failure is actually necessary for success and so much more. This will inspire you. The things that she has overcome and endured is incredible. The way she has mastered her mind in the face of adversity and pain. So if you're enjoying this at any moment, make sure to leave a review over on Apple Podcasts. share this with your friends on social media and make sure to tag Katie as well. It'll all be in the description of the show notes over on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, wherever you're listening to this. And feel free to share it on social media, lewishouse.com/1242 and spread the message of this interview. I'm so excited for you to dive in the one and only Katie Spotts. Welcome back everyone in the School of Greatness. Very excited about our guest, We have Katie Spotts in the house. Good to see you. Welcome, a fellow Ohio athlete. You kind of remind me as I'm learning more about your story of the female David Goggins, like this willing to take on any extreme endurance challenge. You have rowed across the Atlantic Ocean by yourself, which is crazy. You've done a number of rows across the ocean. You have run 11 ultra marathons in 11 days consecutively across Ohio. That's over 30 miles a day, setting a Guinness world record. many other incredible feats, running, rowing, all these different things. And you're also in the Coast Guard now, which is cool as well, another story. But I want to ask you, how did you get into this in the first place of wanting to take on some of the most challenging things that the body can take on? And what is the biggest lesson you've learned about being an endurance athlete at this level?

Yeah, so I actually started by avoiding physical activity. And so I had to take a gym class to get my high school diploma. I found the easiest class, which was walking running, and I was going to put the least amount of effort to get that easy A and kind of move on. And I just did that at first, just putting that bare minimum effort, and I was already forced to be there. And so one week I was just kind of bored, right? Walking in circles is pretty boring. So I thought, okay, well if I tried to run one mile straight, could I actually do it? And this is coming from someone who in team sports, I was physically there, but mentally I was kind of not checked in. And so it didn't really, I didn't connect with sports and the team sports, but I set that target and It wasn't this Nike moment, it wasn't this immediate thing, but it was a moment where redefining possible happened. And even when people say, oh, only one mile, all it takes is one mile to redefine this conversation we have with ourselves, which is, you know, I can and can't do things. And in my mind, I couldn't do that. And so knowing that I could do something I never thought I could, started this little thing like, oh, well, if I never thought I could run one mile and I was wrong, what else am I wrong about? And so one turned into two, turned into three, and that place was really where all the confidence to take on running and cycling. And the same process happens within each sport of endurance.

You've never done it before. You're like, I can't do 100 miles on a bike. I can't row. three miles or hundreds of miles, but then you do one mile and you're like, okay, I can figure it out.

Yes, and I mean, there's momentum. And I think what happens a lot when, you know, attempting bigger challenges is we expect that we need to be motivated. And I learned very quickly that you don't actually need motivation. What you need is to begin and the motivation happens. Like a late friend that's coming to the party. That was something that, you know, I've run many marathons and ultramarathons, but I've never felt motivated at first and you don't need to. And so that's something endurance taught me. Endurance has definitely shown me that just because you think you can't do something doesn't mean you're right. And so, you know, when I share what I do, a lot of times it's, well, I could never do that. My first question is, have you tried? And if you haven't tried, you don't really know. And so, yeah, endurance has been a really great platform to be able to explore possibility. And I think that's what's also really cool about endurance is in team sports, it's winning, losing, sometimes tie. And in endurance, you're discovering what is humanly possible, what is the limit, and I mean, we could go a long way.

A long way. So how many years have you been doing this now, taking on challenges?

So it's been about a decade. And so it started with running and moved to cycling. Short after my first marathon, I cycled across America.

Crazy. How long did that take?

That was 40 days and then did it again as a race, and that was seven. Holy cow.

Seven days?

So we did it as a team.

Oh, as a team. Not individually.

But there are people who do go.

Seven days across country. Really? They're going like 10 hours a day, huh? 12, 15 hours a day.

22.

Oh my gosh.

Yeah, it's crazy what you can do.

That's incredible.

What is possible.

A friend of mine walked across the country. I think it took him like six months, but he got actually a snake bit him. So he had to take like a month off. And then he started back up once he healed his leg. 'cause it was like swollen.

Oh my goodness.

Shout out to Mike Posner. I think it was a six month journey for him. But did you hike as you walked while you ran across the country?

So I cycled across the United States and then swimming came next. And then there's been endurance rollerblading and so basically, and rowing. So those are swim, bike, run, row, rollerblade. That's all the long distance.

What would you say has been the three greatest lessons that you've learned about yourself or the human capacity in the last 10 years of taking all these challenges on?

A lot of these challenges, especially rowing across the Atlantic, it was a really difficult decision to make because when I was in the airport saying goodbye to my family, we were looking at each other like, oh, we don't know if this is it.

Wow.

Because I mean, it's not just physically hard. I didn't have a follow boat and nothing.

There's no support there.

There for two, three months, and so.

Holy cow, so you're in a tiny little boat.

Yes, yeah. And so those were really hard decisions to make. Do I really care that much about doing this that I'm willing to give up potentially my life?

Wow.

So that's, as a 19, 20 year old, you know, making that kind of decision.

Did you have a phone or anything in the ocean?

A satellite phone that worked at times and costed to a dollar fifty a minute. So it was definitely for emergencies. And so I've learned a lot about fear. I don't necessarily like, of course I have fear. It's an important and a valuable emotion. It protects you when you, you know, know how to channel it. But there is this saying of like facing your fears. And for me, I see it more as choosing your fears because you really can't outrun your fears. Sometimes it seems like the easier answer is to quit, to give up, to not continue on. And sometimes that is the easier thing at first, but it may take days or weeks or months, maybe years, or your deathbed, but this is the moment where it's the fear of regret. And so we have the fear of failure. and the fear of regret. And so I've really looked at fears and said, what one do I want to choose? Do I want to choose the fear of failure or the fear of regret? And with facing the fear of failure, yes, you get that discomfort, but you also get the reward of doing hard things. So just reframing fear, just because there is a lot of fear of failure in everything I do. And I mean, the last bigger challenge was running across Ohio, and I was injured and wasn't able to run at all for four to six weeks before. So when people are like, oh, are you ready? No, I'm not. I have no idea what's gonna happen. Like, you just, you know, running on faith a little bit.

So you weren't prepared physically.

No, no, I wasn't.

Although you had done endurance before, you knew how to take it on, but you weren't, your body wasn't conditioned.

So I was doing a splits challenge for 30 days while training for that, and my hamstring didn't like that. Did you learn the splits?

No. It didn't work?

No, I listened my body and it didn't want to do it. So, you got a little bit closer.

Down, but you didn't go all the way down. I keep wanting to get more flexible, but I'm like, Eh, maybe I'm just not supposed to be that much more. Maybe a little bit, but the split seems like a lot. So what's the difference between choosing fear versus facing your fear? How should we be thinking about fear? 'Cause it sounds like you're still afraid to take on these challenges. It's not just like, oh, this is gonna be easy. There's still a lacking motivation, although you have a deeper sense of why you're doing things. But how do you face on some daunting task with the fear or the anxiety of like, this is gonna be painful. This is gonna take a long time. What do you think about with the anticipation going up to it? And then also in the middle of it, when you're like, do I really.

Wanna be doing this right now or do I rather be relaxing? Very rarely once I begin do I feel I don't want to be doing it or just because there's so much joy. And I mean, even saying things like some of the things that I've done or do are similar to like a David Goggins, but I think my mindset is very different in that there's a lot of joy in it. And I feel like you should probably be in a better mood if you have that many endorphins. And so there's a lot of joy found in doing these things and just the changes that are happening in your body with all the endorphins and, you know, like the runner's high and those are very real things that happen. And I believe that if you have a strong enough why, you could figure out how. And hows aren't as important as whys. And knowing that these runs, this temporary discomfort, it lasts a day, a week, but the impact can last a lifetime. And that's with using these as a platform to raise money for clean drinking water. And so all of the endurance challenges have helped over 43,000 people get clean water.

That's pretty cool.

Yeah.

Do you think if you didn't have a why behind it to help others, would you still be able to take on certain big challenges and complete them, or do you feel like you'd give up more easily?

You have to have a strong vision and purpose or else I mean, your whys have to be stronger than your doubts, your fears, your discomforts. And so before doing any challenge, it's really reflecting on that why and making it stronger than anything else that you might face.

How do you do that then when you're thinking beforehand? How's the mindset? How do you frame it for yourself? Okay, in two weeks, I'm going to take on this big challenge for three months by myself in the middle of an ocean. How do you think about it? Is it something you're thinking about every day nonstop? Well, this is why I'm doing it and the people that I'll impact. The memories that I'll have for the rest of my life and how I'll be proud of myself. What do you do?

Sometimes the very thing that I feel most called to do is the thing that I almost want to avoid the most or I'm intimidated.

I don't want to do that. Yeah.

A part of me is like, I don't know if I can. And that's the exciting part. So there has to be an element of I don't know if it's possible. It has to feel like it's a call, like it's a calling. There's usually some resistance and that's when I know I'm on, I'm on to something.

That's where you gotta go. Yeah.

The thing you resist is oftentimes where you have the potential to grow the most.

So what are you thinking then after you've made the decision about your why? Leading up to it a couple weeks before, you've already committed to this thing that you resisted. You've planned it out, you know what you're gonna be eating and the stops and all the training for it. What do you think about in that place then, leading up to the final couple of weeks?

The plan, whether things are coming together with the plan and all the steps, I think a lot about nutrition and fueling strategies and making sure I have all the gear and double checking. And some of these events do have crew, so having calls with crew, Communicating and problem solving, thinking about potential problems. And what's also important is before going into every challenge, before I get emotional, is what is the pull the plug moment? And so it's to the point where I don't really need a crew to be like, Keep going. I need a crew to be like, Stop.

Your leg is literally broken in half. We need to relax.

Yeah, yeah. you know, identified those things and yeah, that could be a hard moment to be in when you're in the middle of a challenge, you have all this adrenaline, you have all these emotions tied up to it. So I think it's very healthy to know when to stop.

Have you ever stopped?

No.

I mean, you tore your ACL-MCL and you kept going in a rollerblading endurance race, so. Yes.

I mean, I did get the MRIs after, so I didn't know that it was- so maybe I tweaked it a little bit, yeah. Yeah, there was a little bit of that going on.

My leg's broken, I'm just gonna keep going. Real good, okay. So there's a lot of people that were like you at one point that one mile seemed so intimidating or so far or that they weren't capable of it. They're not athletes or they're not in shape or whatever it is. But now you're at the point where it's just like, okay, 100 miles is a no big thing. And you said you don't need motivation. Why do people who can't even do a mile need motivation or do they need something else?

First thing is I have so much respect for endurance that 100 miles, I could run 100 miles 100 times and I still will go into 100 mile run being like, I don't know. And because all it takes is one misstep, it is not guaranteed to anyone, no matter what endurance challenge. So I've done a lot of Ironman's, I've done a lot of hundreds, I've done a lot of events to know that one mistake and you could be derailed. And so there's always respect and humility going into these because so much could change when you're doing something for the longest run I've done was 33 hours running non-stop.

How many miles was that?

140. Yeah, so 33 hours. No sleep.

No stopping. I mean, like some walking to grab food or to go to the bathroom, obviously.

Every hour I was meeting up with the support crew just to get water and Fuel.

Water and fuel, because you have the calories in your system, obviously, otherwise you'll burn out. And using the bathroom or whatever it is. 33 hours, 140 miles. How do you keep yourself motivated at hour 20 when you're like, I just want to sleep?

I had a friend join at night. There were little things. Sometimes I break it into segments, and at this 25 mile, I'll be able to listen to music.

So I wait, I'm almost at the 25-minute mark, I'm gonna listen to music, yeah, okay.

So I do little things like that, but there is a state of flow that I'm in, an endurance that I haven't experienced anywhere else but endurance. And what I mean by flow is this state of you're present, you're not worried about tomorrow or yesterday. I think endurance, the longer you go, the more you have to be so focused. And so I really listen to my body. And so there is, yeah, there's a lot of focus that's happening. And so I find it to be exciting too, just like, oh, you never know what's gonna happen. And yeah, it could change. I mean, within a 100-mile race, you can feel like, oh, I could do this forever. And then you could also feel like, I don't want to take another step. And so it's usually such a roller coaster that you just wait a little bit and know that it won't last forever.

So what was the longest time you were by yourself? Was this in the row, in the Atlantic?

Rowing the Atlantic, I was alone at sea for 70 days.

70 days, so a little over two months, two and a half months or something. You didn't see another person during that time. You had a couple phone calls, obviously, but you didn't see anyone. Or maybe...

There was a Venezuelan fishing boat that came and said hello around day like 64.

Wow, so 64 days, no human contact.

Just the fish.

Just the fish, the dolphins. Salt water and the heat.

Some sharks, yeah.

Wow, how did you keep yourself sane?

Audiobooks helped.

Okay, so you were listening to books, you were reading, you had downtime, right?

I mean, I would row about 10 to 12 hours and there's not really much else to do out there.

You sleep?

I would scrub the barnacles off the side of my boat sometimes just because it would slow down the boat, but I did watch a couple movies.

But how do you keep yourself not calling in for the Coast Guard to come pick you up and take you? How do you just keep going?

So what was unique about the row is I wanted to put myself in a situation where the only option was to overcome. That's why I didn't want a teammate. That's why I didn't want a follow boat. If I had a follow boat, I probably would have quit.

You would have tapped out.

Realistically, even if I wanted to quit, in a day, I probably would have changed my mind. And so it could take up to two days for help to get there.

You said, I got this, I'm gonna get there.

Well, by the time they came, I'd be like, nah, I changed my mind. So I think that helped for whatever reason. I did have a lot of, you know, doubt doubters and people saying things that I couldn't do it. So some people get motivation from different places. For me, I that's very motivating when someone's like, you can't do that. And I'm like, okay, thank you. Those all helped. Yeah. For me to keep going. Wow.

What happens when you feel an extreme amount of pain? in one of these challenges and you feel like, okay, my body's telling me it's shutting down. My mind is now getting in this negative loop of pain and frustration and, ah, maybe I should need to stop. How do you flip the thought into something more? Do you have a mantra? Do you have a story you tell yourself? Do you go back to your why? What do you do? When I got injured playing football, everything in my life changed. My dream disappeared overnight. I was broke, crashing on my sister's couch, stuck feeling sorry for myself. But then I made a choice. Stay stuck. that pain or adapt a no Bull mindset and build something new. And that choice changed my life. The no Bull mentality is what no Bull is all about. No Bull is the footwear brand for those committed to getting stronger physically, mentally and emotionally. Known for their award winning shoes, no Bull continues to raise the bar with the all day Ripstop. I am a huge fan of these engineered for versatility. The all day Ripstop is designed to perform from early workouts to late nights and everything in between. with a soft foam midsole for comfort, targeted breathability, and a ripstop upper for extreme durability. They keep me moving comfortably all day long. I am a huge fan of these shoes. No shortcuts, no excuses, just commitment. That's the no Bull mindset. Exclusively for our listeners, no Bull is offering 30% off your order. Visit nobullproject.com slash greatness for 30% off your entire order. That's nobullproject.com slash greatness for 30% off. off. We all know that staying hydrated is so important, and we've heard it a million times. But let's be real. You can really feel the difference when you're hydrated properly. You're sharper, you're energized, and you're ready to go. And when you're not, well, you feel foggy, sluggish, just drained. And with the summer heat coming, staying on top of hydration isn't just a good idea. It's a must. And that's why I love liquid IV. It's powered by live Hydra science, which is clinically studied to maintain hydration better than water alone for up to four hours. And I've been loving the sugar-free raspberry lemonade hydration multiplier. It's so refreshing. And I don't know about you, but if I'm not hydrated, it's hard to function. Whether I'm gearing up for a workout, recording a podcast, or pushing through a packed day, liquid IV always keeps me hydrated. And if you've ever hit that mid-afternoon slump or struggled to keep up, trust me, this is a game changer. Maximize your hydration with liquid IV and get 20% off your first order of liquid IV when you go to liquidiv.com and use code Lewis at checkout. That's 20% off your first order. with code LEWIS@liquidIV.com. This is an advertisement from BetterHelp. You know, one of the biggest stigmas we still need to break, especially for men, is the idea that asking for help is weakness. In reality, it's the most courageous thing you can do. Taking care of your mental health doesn't make you soft. It makes you strong, focused, and grounded. We live in a world that puts a lot of pressure on men to man up. stay silent and just push through. But bottling it all up only leads to burnout, anxiety, or worse. And the truth? It's okay to struggle. It's okay to not have all the answers. And there is real power in opening up. BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform, helping over 5 million people get the support they need without the hassle of waiting rooms or long commutes. You can talk to a therapist from wherever you are and switch anytime if needed. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Talk it out with BetterHelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at BetterHelp.com/Lewis. That's BetterHLP.com/Lewis.

I'm huge into problem solving. Like, there are people who spend months out at sea, they'll come back with salt sores all over their body, and that's a lot of pain that endurance could be easily prevented by just taking solar showers and using baby wipes to wipe down all the salt off your body. So if I do have pain, it's usually what can be done to minimize this pain. And a lot of times in endurance is just having the restraint and patience to slow your pace down. But there's so many things like swapping out shoes will alleviate a lot of pain just because in these endurance runs, your feet can swell to sizes larger. And so you could do a lot with your shoes, you could do a lot with whatever you're wearing, you could do a lot with your pacing and your nutrition. And so it's a good signal and it's important to listen to. So I use pain as a teaching moment, a listen moment, change something moment. And so, and I do think there is a rush of overcoming it when your mind decides that it's stronger than that feeling. And so, yeah.

How do you get your mind to believe that it's stronger than the extreme pain that you're feeling in a momentary experience? Is it training? Is it just practice? Is it just, because this wasn't something you did when you were growing up. You were like, I don't want to do any physical activity. like I can barely pass a gym class that's walking and I can't do one mile. So when there's this hundred miles of pain, how do you constantly overcome it?

Every mile that you've done gives you confidence to go another further. And so I think looking back at how far you've come and how many times you've said, I couldn't do it, and all of us carry a long list of things we thought we couldn't do. that we did. And so I think checking ourselves and that's helpful.

Where does faith come into play for you?

I think for the row, there was obviously a lot of highs and breaking that world record and raising a bunch of money for charity. And it was a whirlwind after that particular event. And it wasn't immediate, But about six months, a year later, I was really in this low. And sometimes we think the achievement is the high, but for me, I felt like that was the low because I reached my goal, but I lost my purpose. I lost the reason I wanted to jump out of bed every morning, the thing I was working towards. And once I had lost that, it really made me hungry to seek and hungry to know what is a purpose and what that is beyond a goal achievement, striving for the next thing and the next thing. And we could continue to do that. For me, the only place that I've been able to find that rest from finding my identity and my worth and achievement is faith. And so I started to have a relationship with God as a Christian, and that has shifted everything for me as an athlete. And I don't think I would have been able to go back to endurance in a healthy way because it's really hard to enjoy something if you think your worth depends on it. Because it's like, what if you lose? Then you lose everything. And so that was kind of the mentality, very fear-based. and so it's given me a lot of freedom in that. I know there's like a lot of talk of like self-confidence and it's freed me from really needing that because I have confidence in God and so I have more confidence in God than... Yeah. So it's not a need that I have anymore.

So you don't put the pressure to build your self-confidence you just eliminate that weight is what it sounds like. confidence and faith in God to give you what you need.

-Absolutely.

-To overcome challenges, to take on... -I.

Mean, one of the biggest things about these challenges is facing failure and who are you when you fail. And so there's been a lot of rest in that space. And a lot of the tips, the lessons can help people achieve and strive and continue to go through that, but I think what people need most is that place to rest and place to feel like they don't need to earn their worth. Interesting. Yeah.

So how do you, how should we define our worth by what?

So for me as a Christian, it's really about what Jesus did and what he enabled us to have access to through his acts.

You don't define your worth on your achievements or by how far you can go or whether you accomplish something or not. You don't put your worth on that.

No.

What would happen if you put your worth on these big challenges, do you think? Of either accomplishing them or failing at them.

I think what happens when your worth or my worth would be tied to it is it would just suck out the joy of it. I think there could be a lot of ego involved. because I was given everything that I have, so I can't really take credit. And even being a hard worker, that is also a gift. Being determined is also a gift. I mean, I could not use it, but it was still a gift given. So even to take ownership and say, well, I worked hard and I'm so determined, well, those are also gifts. And so it's humility really.

What about identity? How do you think about identity, build your identity? Is it tied to these acts or is it more about something else in your life? And if you're not able to do these things anymore, how would that affect your identity?

Yeah, I mean it's very basic, but as a Christian it's a child of God and yeah, it's just kind of mind boggling to think that everything is going to wash away just to have our moment with the Maker and everything is going to be determined for eternity on what we do in this and what decision we make about faith. And so that's a big decision.

Sure. You gotta make. So why is this, do you look at your, do you identify as part of your identity as someone who takes on these challenges or is that not part of your identity?

I feel like, yes. I mean, I think God's called me to do this for sure.

Yeah. How do you know that's part of your calling, at least for this season of your life? Was there something you were hearing when you were younger that brought you to that first mile and then said, okay, I want to try more? How come that didn't happen sooner in your life?

I think Some lessons, you know, are always available. It's are we willing to listen and are we ready to listen? And so my own stubborn nature can be helpful in certain situations, but in other situations it could prevent me from learning those lessons. So I wasn't ready to learn any of those lessons.

Until that moment, yeah, those times. How do you set goals for yourself so that they're scary enough for you to be excited to do them, but also not too crazy to say, okay, I'm just gonna double my distance and shorten the time this time because it's scary. But how do you set goals accurately?

I would say there's definitely been, like, even before rowing the Atlantic, that was part of a bigger vision of going around the whole world by human power. And I was like, well, That's the hardest part. It was the row. And so that's why I did that mainland to mainland. That's why I did that part first because I wanted to do the hardest part first. So that, I feel like, has been with me as an idea or a dream for a really long time.

To go around the world. So you row part of it, you swim part of it, you run part of it, you bike part of it.

Exactly.

And just go around.

Yes.

Wow.

I think, you know, it's a timing thing. And for my 20s, I was more focused on, you know, career type things. And so after I'm out of the Coast Guard, that could be one dream or goal.

That's crazy. That's cool.

The vision of helping 100,000 people get clean water.

So right now, that's really cool. How long would that take, do you think?

It really depends. I mean, with COVID and with getting in and out of countries and Political things, and so it could take two or three years.

Wow. Has anyone ever done that?

No woman has.

That's pretty cool.

I probably would want to do it in legs anyways, because I think you can get a little weird going on these adventures.

Two, three years like that, you're like just isolated.

I think like three to six months is as long as I would want to do that. So yeah, but that's been one with me for over a decade now.

That's pretty cool. Yeah. What's your biggest fear?

Well, I was reading about some areas and they're like, you should get kidnapping insurance. And I'm like, whoa, okay. So I am looking at certain sections to have protection and have a guide and like pay for that service. But I haven't really done many adventures in different countries. and if I did, it was Australia or New Zealand. And even doing the row, I mean, the scariest moments being in the middle of the ocean were other boats either crashing into me or there's pirates. Anywhere you adventure, I think my biggest fear is what other people could do as a solo traveler. So that's my biggest fear, and I'm glad I do have that fear because I will use it.

Yeah, you will. Yeah. What do you feel like is the biggest challenge in your life? You've finished so many of these challenges so far. What's the biggest internal challenge you face?

I think it was after the row and really figuring out what is my identity.

What's next? Okay, I just accomplished this big thing and now I'm kind of depressed. You hear about this with like Olympians, they've been training their whole life or something. They do this crazy feat, amazing high and then like the next days or weeks they go into a depression because there's no more routine, there's no more goal, there's no more collaboration or challenge to face. Do you feel like we should always have some type of challenge we're taking on?

Life definitely is meant for us to be growing constantly. I think there's definitely balance with that and if you're going from one to the next and not really cherishing it and enjoying it, it's doing a disservice to what you're doing and this is good for us. Yeah.

And one of the things that you're always doing in these challenges, it's towards a greater cause than you. It's all about providing access to clean water to people around the world, right?

Exactly.

And I think the number is you've helped close to 45,000 people, right, gain access to clean water. How important is it for us to have something beyond ourselves, whether we're an athlete on a a team sport or endurance athlete, but taking on these physical, mental, demanding challenges, how important do you feel like it is for all of us to have something bigger than us as a part of our why? And do you think you'd be able to finish these things without having that vision in your mind?

Yeah, I don't even know if I'd want to start.

Really? Yeah.

I mean, if... Like, what's the point?

Yeah.

If you have something you're so passionate about, there's got to be a way to use it. And so, I mean, that is somewhat of how I do define greatness, is finding the thing you're most passionate about and figuring out how to serve it and use it of service. Use it. Great passion meets a great need. And I just think we're wired to We don't do that. We're meant to be in community. And we all have gifts, we all have talents, we all have something to bring to the table.

So when things get really challenging in your mind, is that something you think about? It's like, okay, I'm gonna keep doing this for the people that need water.

Is that... Well, with water, the good thing is, I mean, we can disagree about a lot of things in the world. I mean, we can all agree that everyone deserves clean water. Clean water, similar to endurance challenges, I think clean water is almost like a metaphor because all these challenges seem impossible and the big numbers, right? And clean water is the same way. It just seems impossible because 785 million people don't have clean water, but it's the same approach of endurance, of taking it one step at a time, taking it one mile at a time, taking it one person at a time, and that's how I believe the water crisis will be solved. And it just fires me up about clean water because there's a lot of problems we don't have answers to. There's a lot of, you know, whether it's research or technology, but with clean water we already have the tools. And some wells will fail and you'll need to maintain it and environments will change and there'll be floodings or droughts. And so yes, there are always challenges with everything, but we do have proven solutions that work. And so when you see a huge problem and aside from air, what more do we, you know, what's our basic need? And we have after air, it's water. And so when you see how much potential there is with technology and the fact that, you know, driving and flying and all of this, it's, I just get so fired up about, wow, this is a problem we can actually solve and it could change our world.

Yeah.

One in eight people. This is our daily struggle and we have the potential to end a crisis that has been on our planet. I mean, that's exciting.

Yeah, that's very exciting. What do you feel like this is all done for your mental health?

So what happens when you're doing these challenges is I get a lot of adrenaline. So much adrenaline.

Before, during, after.

Even the day before a race, like not being able to sleep. And there's so many endorphins and then once it's over it's like oh the party's over. And so I've done this so much that I know that that will probably happen and that's kind of part of the process. And that's my body's way of going from one high to recalibrate, you know? And so if I went from that high to another, it just my body needs to regulate. And that's kind of part of it is just feeling depleted and feeling now that I understand it and don't take it personally, that's definitely helped so that it's not like, oh, no, why am I feeling? Oh, this is because my body just used all of that and now I have to rest and recuperate. But it's also enabled me, like it's been a positive impact on my mental health and that building community, meeting new people, exploring, traveling, the community. Like there's definitely a strong community within ultra running and every sport has their own community and so I've definitely been able to meet others and share that.

That's cool.

Yeah.

What advice would you give someone who's taking on a big challenge in their life where they don't feel prepared, i.e. myself getting ready for a marathon? What if they don't feel like they're physically prepared for some challenge, whether it's two miles are about to run or a marathon or something? They're like, I'm gonna do this thing, but I don't feel fully ready or prepared. What advice would you have for someone to take on the challenge and complete the challenge?

Well, there's a lot of people who have done it who have felt like you felt right now.

Right. Who've done marathons, who have been prepared. Yeah, lots of people.

Yeah, a lot of people have felt what you feel right now and have been able to do a marathon.

Just remember that or is there any other wisdom? Any other advice? I think you mentioned before going to it like with just each moment at a time. Yeah, bring a sense of joy to the experience. Don't dread the end of it or the how long it's gonna take, but just enjoy each moment, right?

Yeah, for sure. I mean, if I do any kind of event, if I already think about the end, it's kind of, it's over. I mean, it does definitely suck out the joy and so just Yeah, embracing it and not taking it personally when those feelings come up. I think most people who ever run marathons, who ever do these things, go through some kind of like, oh, I don't know if I can. And that's just part of the process. And so focusing just on that one mile and every mile ahead will be dictated on how how you pace and how you focus on that one mile. So yeah, just focusing one mile at a time. One thing that, you know, through these endurance challenges, like rowing the Atlantic, it's 3,000 miles, and halfway through I was like, I want to give up. This is ridiculous. And so I'm like, I give up on 3,000, but I give in to one mile. And that was my shift. I'm rowing one mile 3,000 times. And that's really, you know, one mile.

One mile of time, not 3,000 miles.

No, I couldn't do that. And I mean, most endurance challenges, the halfway point is like, oh, I'm closer to the end than the start. For the row, I had this opposite thing happen where I'm like, I gave everything to get to the halfway point. I don't think I could do that again.

How exhausted I am.

It feels bigger. Oh, yeah. And now I'm like in this place where I'm the farthest away from land and any, like, so I'm in the middle of nowhere.

Get me out.

And so it just felt a lot bigger. And so that's why I just, I said I can't do this 3,000 stuff. I could do one mile. And the one mile is the way to go.

Focus on one mile at a time.

Yeah?

Okay. I got this. One at a time. We can follow you at katiespots.com, S-P-O-T-Z. Stay in touch with you there. You're over on Instagram and social media as well, Facebook, Twitter, and you'll be sharing more of these adventures in the future, I'm assuming, on social media. You're posting about it when you're doing them. And people can learn more. They can be a part of the causes to help clean water by following you over there as well. What else can we do to support you? Right now.

So clean water is my thing and so if you'd like to donate, all the proceeds go directly to supporting clean water projects. So on my website there's a place to donate and that would be greatly appreciated.

Awesome. Love it, love it. We'll make sure to send people over there. This is a question I asked everyone at the end of the interviews called the Three Truths. So imagine it's your last day on Earth, many years away from now. You get to live as long as you want to live. For whatever reason, it's the last day. And you accomplish everything you want to accomplish. You have a great life. But you've got to take all of your accomplishments, your message, it's got to go with you to the next place. So, no one has a memory of you or your information anymore. But you get to write down three things you know to be true from your life. Three lessons that you would share with the rest of us. And this is all we would have to kind of remember from your information. What would you say are those three lessons or three truths for you?

Yeah, I'd say the first one is that just because you think you can't do something doesn't mean you're right and that we're more capable than we think. And I think we do this thing sometimes where we project that other people are more talented, more gifted, they have something more and are superhuman and it may seem seem like humility, but what it actually could be is avoiding taking responsibility for us to do our very best with what we have or even laziness, like to be projecting that other people are bigger or better. So, yeah, we're just, we have more than we think we do. Yeah, I would say that motivation is overrated, that you can do things when when you don't feel like it and there's something that's even more empowering and that motivation shows up when you do. Motivation is like momentum. When you begin, it'll start and so it'll keep continuing. So I think showing up and trying is really important and that you can kind of trust the process that motivation will come. I mean, one step makes it easier to take the next one.

I like that. Okay, and the third truth?

Okay, so a lot of what I've done is like, you know, facing and dealing with failure and the potential for failure. And the biggest tragedy is not failing, but not having something worth failing for. Ooh. So it's just finding something that is bigger than your fears and insecurities and is worth worth failing for.

Say that one more time. Not failing, but not having something worth failing for.

It's not failing, but not having something worth failing for. That's sad when you're just like, I fail big. Fail big.

Yeah. So how do we find something worth failing for?

I think we all have a call.

It's that insecurity, that fear. It's kind of like leaning into that is what you're saying?

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think everyone here on planet Earth has a mission, has a call, and it's not meant to be a mystery. And just to really listen to it, like, intuitively. And yeah, I love that.

Those are good three truths. I want to acknowledge you, Katie, for, I mean, just taking on the fears in your life and taking on the challenges that seem super scary to yourself and resistant, but also saying, I'm going to take them on even though you could fail or you could succeed at them and you keep showing up. I think it's really inspiring. And you do it not for the recognition for yourself, but for a greater cause, which I think is really inspiring as well. And obviously, you're getting rewarded and acknowledged for this effort as well. But I think having something deeper, more meaningful behind this vision is really inspiring to serve other people as well as supporting yourself on this journey of life and creating more opportunities for yourself. So, I really acknowledge you for the journey, the accomplishments, the success and the service underneath all of it which is really inspiring. My final question for you is what is your definition of greatness?

Well, that was a great lead-in because I feel like when kids are young it's like what do you want to be? A doctor, a lawyer, or this or that. And who says humanitarian? Not many people. Or a saint. But greatness is being of service and serving something bigger than yourself.

I love it. Katie, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's show with all the important links. And also make sure to share this with a friend and subscribe over on Apple Podcasts as well. I really love hearing feedback from you guys, so share a review over on Apple and let me know what part of this episode resonated with you the most. And if no one's told you lately, I want to remind you that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something great.

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