Susanne Vanzijl's guest appearances

Susanne Vanzijl

Do It For Yourself Podcast

George Bryant

Bobby Maximus

Eric Rosenberg

Tommy Breedlove

Shane Nicolich

Ryan Mitchell

Rob Allen

Tim Ford

Adam Jones

Jimmy Lee

Eric Hinman

Steve Del Monte

Joe Corcione

Ginny Cataldi

Kristen Smith

OwlTail

This is The Do It For Yourself Podcast.  Each week I sit down with someone who is doing it for themselves and chasing a dream they just couldn’t suppress.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.  Someone who is Doing It For Themselves is not selfish in their pursuit, they are simply chasing a dream or working towards a goal because it is something THEY want to do.  They are not forging down a path because society or someone is telling them it’s what they should be doing.   I have been very excited for this interview and to share it with all of you.  My guest this week, Susanne, is the Autism Ninja, the amazing mom, and the twice qualifying for Kona mom of two amazing boys.  She has completed some amazing accomplishments throughout her career in this sport and it has all been done while training inside and raising her boys.  Susanne has a son who was diagnosed with Autism.  This has been a challenge for her because she has been doing most of her training at home.     Before becoming the amazing triathlete and runner that she is, Susanne was an art student who was smoking and decided to take a friend up on a dare to go run.  She immediately fell in love with this sport and never looked back.  Susanne weaved her way through the various distances of triathlon and began to have some success.  It was when, as most athletes, she saw the NBC coverage of Kona, she knew she wanted to race there.  Susanne found a course that would play to her strengths and she went to Texas to compete in the Ironman distance.  Although she did not go into this race expecting to qualify for Kona, it was certainly in the back of her mind.  In Suzanne's words, she had the race of a lifetime and ended up qualifying to the big island.     When Suzanne went to race for the first time, it did not go according to plan.  She fell apart on the run and the runner in her could not come to terms with walking the remaining 16 miles in the marathon and so she dropped out.  After her experience in Kona, she knew she wanted another shot at that race.  Around this time a friend had suggested she apply for the new program through Ironman called Quest for Kona, where athletes would be selected and followed through their entire journey from their Ironman race where they would attempt to qualify, training and then hopefully their day in Kona.     During all of this, Suzanne's son was asked to leave the school he was in.  He was now home and Suzanne how to balance training along with taking care of him.  At one point she was actually running loops around her .25 mile block so that she could keep an eye on her son.  Suzanne raced in Santa Rosa and qualified AGAIN for the Ironman World Championships.  This time Suzanne knew she was not going to take this opportunity for granted and she completely changed not only her training but her mindset.  In 2017 Suzanne accomplished one of her biggest goals by crossing the finish line in Kona for the first time.     I really enjoyed this conversation with Suzanne and I am thrilled to share it with you.   Suzanne's Instagram   Do It For Yourself Instagram   Support the show on Patreon here

This is The Do It For Yourself Podcast.  Each week I sit down with someone who is doing it for themselves and chasing a dream they just couldn’t suppress.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.  Someone who is Doing It For Themselves is not selfish in their pursuit, they are simply chasing a dream or working towards a goal because it is something THEY want to do.  They are not forging down a path because society or someone is telling them it’s what they should be doing. I have been very excited for this interview and to share it with all of you.  My guest this week, Susanne, is the Autism Ninja, the amazing mom, and the twice qualifying for Kona mom of two amazing boys.  She has completed some amazing accomplishments throughout her career in this sport and it has all been done while training inside and raising her boys.  Susanne has a son who was diagnosed with Autism.  This has been a challenge for her because she has been doing most of her training at home.   Before becoming the amazing triathlete and runner that she is, Susanne was an art student who was smoking and decided to take a friend up on a dare to go run.  She immediately fell in love with this sport and never looked back.  Susanne weaved her way through the various distances of triathlon and began to have some success.  It was when, as most athletes, she saw the NBC coverage of Kona, she knew she wanted to race there.  Susanne found a course that would play to her strengths and she went to Texas to compete in the Ironman distance.  Although she did not go into this race expecting to qualify for Kona, it was certainly in the back of her mind.  In Suzanne's words, she had the race of a lifetime and ended up qualifying to the big island.   When Suzanne went to race for the first time, it did not go according to plan.  She fell apart on the run and the runner in her could not come to terms with walking the remaining 16 miles in the marathon and so she dropped out.  After her experience in Kona, she knew she wanted another shot at that race.  Around this time a friend had suggested she apply for the new program through Ironman called Quest for Kona, where athletes would be selected and followed through their entire journey from their Ironman race where they would attempt to qualify, training and then hopefully their day in Kona.   During all of this, Suzanne's son was asked to leave the school he was in.  He was now home and Suzanne how to balance training along with taking care of him.  At one point she was actually running loops around her .25 mile block so that she could keep an eye on her son.  Suzanne raced in Santa Rosa and qualified AGAIN for the Ironman World Championships.  This time Suzanne knew she was not going to take this opportunity for granted and she completely changed not only her training but her mindset.  In 2017 Suzanne accomplished one of her biggest goals by crossing the finish line in Kona for the first time.   I really enjoyed this conversation with Suzanne and I am thrilled to share it with you. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/susannevanzijl/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Suzanne's Instagram</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/doing_it_for_yourself/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Do It For Yourself Instagram</a> <a href="https://www.patreon.com/doitforyourself" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Support the show on Patreon here</a>

Quest for Kona Athlete Susanne Vanzijl