Dority Baker Coaching, LLC

Sharing something different this week! While consistent training and playing outside are important, we also need to feed our brains with good books. I'm adding a number of these to my book list for fall. Happy Reading!

The 12 Books to Fire Up Your Brain This Fall A sneak preview of my top new releases.

Anyone else missing the Paris Olympics? Sharing a Tuesday Reading I wrote a few weeks ago about performing on the world stage. While the athleticism was amazing, the athletes were successful due to coaching and teamwork. We can learn from and implement such behavior in all areas of life.

Performing on the World Stage - Inspiration from the Paris Olympics - MOR Associates I am watching this year’s Paris Olympics for both athleticism and with a leadership development lens. I am looking for coaching and team dynamics.

It's August, we need some funny outdoor memes! Let's go outside and play.

Wow, what an Olympics! The 2024 Paris Olympics were amazing; the athletes, performances, and stories. The statistics are even better! I read that 65% of the gold medals won by US were earned by female athletes. Congratulations!

US female athletes dominating Paris Olympics. We have Title IX to thank U.S. female athletes are on pace to win more medals than U.S. male athletes for the fourth consecutive Summer Games.

How many people are learning or recalling new-to-you sports? I love watching so many sports, teams, and amazing athletes during the Paris Olympics. Sharing this article about Ilona Maher, the US Rugby sevens athlete.

Ilona Maher: how a US rugby sevens player became one of the biggest stars of the Games The American is one of the breakout athletes in Paris, thanks to an irreverent social media presence that has won her sponsors and millions of fans

Are you watching the Paris Olympics? The 2024 event has parity of male and female athletes. The Just Women's Sports network has great coverage of all the sports!

Just Women's Sports | Serving Women’s Sports Fan Women’s sports news, scores, schedules and coverage for the USWNT, NWSL, WNBA, NCAA Basketball, WTA and more.

This summer has been an amazing one for races, adventures, and all types of sports activity. Sometimes it's challenging to not compare one's fitness or training with other athletes. I appreciate this reminder from Women's Running on how to avoid comparison to online athletes. It's a good reminder to run one's own race or training and enjoy the miles.

5 Ways Runners Can Ditch Self-Comparison on Social Media These expert-approved techniques can also help you have a better relationship with running—and yourself.

I am a fan of films about athletes and their adventures racing. I look forward to watching this new film on Courtney Dauwalter's Triple Crown races last summer. What an incredible athlete!

New Film Debuts About Courtney Dauwalter’s Epic ‘Triple Crown’ of Ultra-Trail Running Salomon has launched a new film about Courtney Dauwalter's epic 'Triple Crown' of ultra-trail running in 2023

Natalie Dau ran 1000km from Thailand to Singapore to raise money for GRLS a charity that funds projects to encourage women and girls to play sports. I appreciated learning more about the run in her interview with the BBC.

Ultra-running: Inside the mind of the woman who ran 1000km in 12 days At the end of her challenge, the 52-year-old says ultra-running is a good way to "get uncomfortable".

The 2024 Olympics in Paris are July 26-August 11. Numerous Olympic trials are taking place; Track & Field, Gymnastics, Swimming and more. I'm excited to watch this year's Olympics, even better is the parity in athletes with a projected 50:50 for male and female athletes on the field of play.

U.S. adults are 7X more likely to name Simone Biles as the 'face of the Olympics' than LeBron James, the top male athlete mentioned.

Biles is an American artistic gymnast with a total of 37 Olympic and World Championship medals, she is the most decorated gymnast in history. She is widely considered one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. Her seven Olympic gymnastics medals are the ninth-most of all time and tied with Shannon Miller for the most by a U.S. gymnast.

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I'm learning a new sport - you can never have too many options in the Midwest! This is season three of sailing, specifically learning to sail a Snipe sailboat.

As a newbie (which I highly recommend no matter what stage of life), I'm at that awkward growth state of knowing enough to not make too stupid of decisions and just enough to be aware of how amazing a particular race is. The 2AK race is an awesome race, I highly recommend following the adventure from Victoria, BC to Ketchikan, AK (710 miles).

Stage 2, Day 4: More Biking–Now with Rain - Race to Alaska Either this is the most wind-starved Race to Alaska in recent memory or we’re suffering from early onset whatever it’s called. Seriously though, it’s like the wind was cut off because we forgot to pay the bill. Not a great look for a race that bills itself as “the most hardcore, go if you da...

Sharing this conversation as I'm considering the Kula Cloth for weekends at the lake and gravel bike rides. Have you used it? I appreciate the banter of the gear guides Outside Magazine!

Marketing Ploy or Essential? Our Editors Debate the P*e Cloth. Backpacker editors go head-to-head on the most controversial of feminine hygiene accessories

June is a beautiful month to play outside! It's the start of Meteorological summer which is June, July and August. I'm looking forward to time on the trails, the lake, and with friends.

Take a hike. No better time to hit the trail than . In celebration of Great Outdoors Month and National Trails Day, four new national recreation trails, adding 33.5 miles to the National Trails System, have been designated. They include the Banks-Vernonia State Trail in Oregon, the Comal River Water Trail in Texas, Hell’s Revenge Trail in Utah, and the Sweet Spring Turnpike Trail in West Virginia.

The newly designated trails join a network of more than 1,300 existing national recreation trails, which can be found in every U.S. state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the trails at: https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/secretary-haaland-designates-four-new-national-recreation-trails.htm

Image: Screenshot of NPS post with text “take a hike.”

Are you excited about the 2024 Olympics in Paris?! I am looking forward to seeing the amazing feats by athletes in every sport. Here's a great podcast from Feisty Media to get ready for it!

Get ready for Paris with our special podcast series covering all the Olympics hot topics. 🥇🎉 New episode every Monday, then go with us behind-the-scenes in France 🇫🇷 once the Games start.

🎧 first episode out now, on the Feisty Women’s Performance podcast feed

Do you remember your high school sports coaches? My favorite sport was cross country so this post made me smile! I don't recall all of the wisdom from my coaches but I do know they cared about their athletes first. If you have the opportunity to invest in the next generation of athletes - do it! We are all better for having coaches who believed in us.

Everything I Needed to Know About Running (I Learned from my Cross Country Coach) Running lessons that have served me long past cross country practice days, and how they can serve you, too

This article resonated with me, I appreciate the author's candor in how her relationship with being "fit" changed. It's okay to shift priorities in how we spend our time and energy.

A moment that changed me: I thought fitness was my superpower. Then I realised it was a ball and chain Running had been my identity, my career, my life. One beautiful spring day, I realised it wasn’t enough

While allostatic is a new word to me, the concept is familiar! I've been ruminating on this article for the past week. I like the idea that it's not about avoiding or forcing things instead, "it’s about skillfully engaging with what is in front of you, holding your ground and adapting at the same time."

How An Allostatic Approach Can Help You Find Stability In A Crazy World On keeping our sanity and showing up at our bests in a batsh*t crazy world.

As the season's change, a nice reminder to enjoy the outdoors safely :)

Think of the paperwork. Remember to treat wildlife with proper caution and respect, plus no one likes an unflattering selfie. The safety of these animals, as well as your safety, depends on everyone using good judgment. In conclusion, choices. Make good ones.

Learn more tips to watch wildlife safely at: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/watchingwildlife/7ways.htm

Image: Screenshot of National Park Service tweet with text, “Living your life to the fullest does not have to involve selfies with bison.”

I have been thinking about (and sharing with family and colleagues) this post from Steve Magness at The Growth Equation. It's an interesting read on what happens when we over-optimize a thing to find efficiency or results...we lose the joy of doing that thing. I had a similar experience earlier this year, I was so focused on a training plan that I burned out on running. Only focusing on the miles, feeling like I had to force my run into a busy day, and not enjoying the experience of running my local trails left me unmotivated and uninterested in running. I took an intentional three-week break from running; I used the time to rest, enjoy being outside because I wanted to, not because I had to, and have eased back into fun runs. So far, so good but this blog post is a reminder to myself to find the magic and joy in running and not to overthink the miles.

Stop Over-Optimizing Everything Since the glory days of Babe Ruth, with only a few dips here or there, home runs have been king in baseball. But over the past decade or so, an interesting phenomenon has occurred. Home runs are still emphasized above all else, but strikeouts are up, and the percent of time batters make contact is [...

Adding this book to my reading list! I look forward to a deeper conversation on how practices such as running make us better humans and how as humans, we can use virtues to be more present in life.

Book Review: Sabrina Little’s The Examined Run Brings Virtue Ethics To Trails Trials of Miles for the Legs and Mind It’s not about how many miles you run but about how and why you run those miles that determine the kind of runner

Are you planning for this year's adventures? Here's a great list of the most adventurous states in the U.S. There's so much to see and do with the numerous national parks, state parks and public lands to explore. How many states have you visited?

The 8 Most Adventurous States in America. Number 1 Is … From miles of trails to acres of public land, the explorable and beautiful terrain in these states stand out above the rest.

A super exciting post to share as Jasmin Paris is the first female finisher of the Barkley Marathons race! I read somewhere that a few year's ago, Laz said she would be the first female to finish. Three attempts later, her name is in the history books for this grueling race.

2024 Barkley Marathons Results: Jasmin Paris First Ever Women’s Finisher, Most Finishers Ever Results from the 2024 Barkley Marathons, where Jasmin Paris made history as the first woman finisher ever and four men's also finished.

Sailing around the world, alone; Cole Brauer is the first American woman to complete this journey. She completed the Global Solo Challenge earlier this month. Hear more about her experience and what she's planning for next in this interview with PBS.

29-year-old becomes first American woman to sail nonstop around the world Cole Brauer became the first American woman to sail solo nonstop around the world last week, capturing worldwide attention through her Instagram posts chronicling the journey. The 29-year-old joins a group of fewer than 200 people who have made the trek. She was the only woman that participated this...

Have you ran a marathon? Did you know that women could not register for a marathon until 1972?! The 1928 Olympics was the first Olympics that allowed female track and field athletes. We've come a long way but there's still room to grow! This is just one short list of amazing athletes who paved the way.

13 Women Who Changed Running History In celebration of Women’s History Month, we’re highlighting just a few of the amazing women who altered the sport of women’s running with their courage, determination, and passion

It's March which national women's month so I've been reading about "firsts" or the first female to accomplish a thing. This is one of my favorites! A few year's ago, I read about Alice Ramsey's cross-country road trip in Smithsonian Magazine. She was 22 years old when she drove from New York to San Francisco in 1909, the trip took two months to complete.

I'm a big fan of Luno Life gear for car camping. I appreciate that they highlighted Alice Ramsey's trip along with the reminder that sending time outside is something we should all strive for.

Car Camping Legend: Meet Alice Ramsey, The First Woman to Road Trip Ac There’s no car camping hall of fame, but if there were, Alice Huyler Ramsey would be a shoo-in inductee. In 1909, over a decade before women were allowed to vote, then 22-year-old Ramsey made history by becoming the first woman to road trip across the United States. Her route, which we’ll re-cre...

What's on your bucket list for adventures? This is one of mine; hiking the Camino de Santiago. I'm posting this as a reminder to myself AND to think about when to do this adventure.

Walking the Camino de Santiago Hikers around the world are rediscovering Spain's Camino de Santiago, Medieval Europe's version of the thru-hike. A veteran of the pilgrimage shares his tips for getting your boots on the path.

Dr. Stacy Sims is the author of Roar (one of my favorite books!) and a vocal proponent of research for female athletes. I found her recent blog post on "lived experiences" intriguing as it connected the dots for me. So often we overlook and perhaps undervalue what we learned in an experience for the data it provided - yet what we experienced in more nuanced than numbers can show.

Let’s Talk about Lived Experiences In this post, Dr. Stacy Sims talks about how 'Lived Experiences' involves understanding something from the perspective of the individuals involved.