Getting the worst flu of your life isn’t a perfect plan for anyone’s marathon race-week, but if there’s any athlete who's used to less-than-ideal prep it’s Hamilton’s Erin Mawhinney, a nurse educator who balances training upwards of 150km each week with the demands of full-time healthcare work. 

At last month's Marathon Project in Arizona, Mawhinney's hopes of capitalizing on a flat, fast course against world-class competition were dashed by a nasty race-week flu that forced her to withdraw just 10K into the race. Yet for her and coach Reid Coolsaet, a 2xOlympian at the marathon himself, letting the months great training go unused was never an option.  

Fast forward to January 11th and Mawhinney was back on the starting line of a marathon for the second time in under a month, this time in Texas at the Aramco Houston Marathon. Free from the illness that had derailed her previous attempt, Mawhinney would go on to run a massive 7-minute personal best of 2:29:36, finishing 5th in the women's elite field and making her the 12th fastest Canadian marathoner of all time. 

Today on The Shakeout Podcast, we’re joined by Erin Mawhinney and Coach Reid Coolsaet to talk about the work behind the breakout performance and how they approach elite marathon training while balancing the demands of a full life outside of sport. 

Follow Erin @ErinMawhinney_

Follow Reid @ReidCoolsaet

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