Running at the Mouth, While Running For Her Life: Fitz Koehler - 09-22-2020

Imagine doing everything right with your health and fitness,
being in peak shape, and enjoying a super successful career
announcing at the start and finish lines of some of the top
marathons and races in the country, and then being slammed with a
cancer diagnosis. What do you do?


If you’re Fitz Koehler, you become even more of an inspiration.
In 2019, Fitz found a cancerous lump in her breast just seven
weeks after a clear mammogram. True to form, she immediately
began treatment,  including chemo, to wage an all-out war
against the cancer. The treatment was exhausting and
debilitating. Did she take time off? No! She got on the phone to
the race directors, informed them of her diagnosis, and then told
them she would still be showing up for the races. And she
did. 


Fitz announced at all of her scheduled races, even when literally
losing her hair while doing so. She continued to fly around the
country, sometimes spending entire nights on bathroom floors, but
she still showed up at the races where she both gave and got
energy from the athletes. 


Fitz is now cancer-free and shares her story and amazing outlook
on life and running in this motivating episode with Coach
Claire. 


Fitz Koehler, M.S.E.S.S. is one of the most prominent and
compelling fitness experts and race announcers in America. As the
voice of the Los Angeles Marathon, Philadelphia Marathon, Big Sur
Marathon, DC Wonder Woman Run Series, and more, she brings big
structure, energy, and joy to sport. She’s also passionate about
guiding others to live better and longer through her company,
Fitzness. Fitz has appeared on national media outlets and has
worked as a speaker and spokesperson for corporations like Disney
and Office Depot. She has also inspired millions of kids to get
active through her successful school running/walking program, The
Morning Mile. Fitz enjoys water sports, strength training,
animals, hugs, sarcasm, and travel. She lives in Gainesville,
Florida with her husband and two kids.


 
Questions Fitz is asked:

        


4:53 Besides being a fitness professional, one of the things that
you are most well-known for is race announcing.  Can you
tell us how you started and what exactly is involved?


 


7:48 You had a really full race schedule and were doing great.
You’re absolutely uber-fit, and then all of a sudden, after doing
everything right, you were hit with a cancer diagnosis. Can 
you talk about what your life was like just before your
diagnosis? Did you feel invincible?


 


8:43 You had just had a clear mammogram a couple months earlier
before your cancer diagnosis.


 


10:04 Can you tell us how the cancer diagnosis, that first few
weeks, how it affected you and your family?


 


11:21 You’re known for being a positive person who encourages
people all the time, and you had to deliver some pretty bad news.
How was that?


 


12:49 You had a full race calendar, and after you made that video
announcing your diagnosis you had to make some phone calls to the
race directors that were expecting you to show up. What was that
like? 


 


14:47 As you were announcing the March 2019 LA marathon, your
hair began to fall out during the race.  Can you talk about
that?


 


17:16 Obviously losing your hair has got to be difficult for
anyone, but you chose specifically not to wear a wig and embrace
your baldness. Can you talk about that?


 


18:54 How many races did you end up announcing during your
treatment?  And how difficult was it?


 


20:55 How did you have the confidence to call races? Anybody
would have understood if you said, “Look, I’m just too sick. I’m
going to take a pass.” How did you know that it was going to be
okay?


 


21:33 Clearly your own exercise routine was thrown way out of
whack by cancer.  How did your exercise change and how did
you build back up?


 


24:46 Why don't you like pink ribbons?


 


26:23 Coming full circle, you were back announcing the 2020 LA
Marathon.  Can you explain what that was like?


 


27:52 Now that you are cured of cancer, your life has no doubt
been completely changed with the cancellation of races due to the
virus.  How have you used this time instead?


 


29:50 Tell us what the title of your book is and when it comes
out.


 


31:45 What’s your advice on what to say to somebody who announces
a diagnosis like yours?


 


33:28 What’s your next race on the calendar?


 


Questions I ask everyone:


 


33:52 If you could go back and talk to yourself when you started
running, what advice would you give?


 


34:46 What is the greatest gift running has given you?


 


35:11  Where can listeners connect with you?


 
Quotes by Fitz:

 


“First of all, I whip them into a frenzy and then I yell, ‘Go!’
because we do not do boring races. And then I’m there at the
finish line to welcome them home, and my intention is to make
every single finisher feel like they won the damn thing, and if
somebody goes home feeling disappointed, then I haven’t done my
job.”


 


“Part of my platform as a fitness expert has always been annual
exams, self-exams, and personally I felt like, ‘Gee whiz, if I
ever have one cancer cell in my body, I want to know about it
instantly so I could slaughter it.’ I just felt no mercy on
cancer.”


 


“Stubborn is my greatest asset, my greatest curse. There was
nothing going to hold me back, and when I make a decision, God
help the person or thing that gets in the way.”


 


Take a Listen on Your Next Run


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Mentioned in this podcast: 

Fitzness.com


My Noisy Cancer Comeback - pre-order signed copy


My Noisy Cancer Comeback will be released in October on Amazon,
Barnes & Noble, Audible, etc.


MorningMile.com


Fitzness@aol.com


Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community


RunnersConnect Facebook page


claire@runnersconnect.net


 


Book:  My Noisy Cancer Comeback,  available on presale
at Fitzness.com


Finding a cancerous lump in her breast seven weeks after a clean
mammogram was terrifying. But fitness expert and race announcer
Fitz Koehler refused to play the victim or allow cancer to steal
her extraordinary career or time with family. In My Noisy Cancer
Comeback, Fitz reveals the juicy and gory details of her 16-month
battle, all while zigzagging across the United States. Enduring
chemotherapy, radiation, and surgeries in the public eye wasn’t
easy. You’ll laugh, cry, wince, and cheer as she chronicles the
clash of an avalanche of side effects with 22 major race
weekends. Her inspirational tale encompasses the terror of
diagnosis, bald heads and black dresses, spectacular stages,
parenting with cancer, perspective, and, most importantly,
triumph. You’ll walk away grittier, more optimistic, and inspired
to conquer any obstacle.


 


Follow Fitz on:


 


Facebook


Instagram


YouTube






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