Running coaching and marathon stories with Caroline Desjardins

What this episode covers

My name is Caroline Desjardins. I am originally from the Province of Quebec, the French-speaking part of Canada. I grew up in a beautiful area near Ottawa, the nation’s capital, where we ski, skate, bike and hike all year long no matter what the weather. This gave me the courage to try everything and not be fearful of new experiences. This is probably why I begged my parents to let me study at FIT in NYC. I followed my dream and moved to New York City to study Fashion Design at FIT. Upon graduating, my career as a fashion designer provided an exciting opportunity to travel all over the world for business and pleasure. After many years in the industry, I returned to school for my MBA in Fashion Management and Entrepreneurship graduating May 2016 at LIM College in NYC. I started teaching at the college offering a unique perspective as recent graduate with industry experience. I am currently on the board of OWIT-NYC as their representative for women working in international trade. In my spare time, I am a certified Level 1 running coach with RRCA (Road Runners Club of America) and have coached thousands of runners from beginners to competitive athletes for more than 15 years to date. I have completed the NYC marathon 14 times, in addition to countless half marathons, 10K and 5K races and my first Triathlon was the inaugural “Mighty Hamptons”. Training for these events have taught me discipline, perseverance, and commitment to reach my personal goals one step at a time no matter how long it takes, quitting is never an option. I believe in crossing the finish line with a smile, even if you feel like throwing up at the time. The discomfort is temporary, but the thrill of the accomplishment will last forever! In addition, I adopted three large rescue dogs and trained them to be therapy dogs visiting patients at Southampton Hospital NY. The satisfaction of seeing a patient’s mood change from despair to laughter from a short visit with my therapy dogs is a reward that is beyond words. Rewarding volunteer work also includes participating in mentoring homeless youth living at the Covenant House in NYC. This has been a life experience I cherish to this day when I saw how sharing a few kind words could help a young person believe in themselves and allowed them to see hope for their future. My mantra on my fridge is FEAR = Face Everything and Rise. Don’t let fear of failure stop you from trying something new.

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