084. Leah Goldstein - Winner of the 2021 Race Across America
”You retire when you’re dead”, a quote from the trailer of Leah Goldstein’s documentary, No Limits, exemplifies Leah’s presence when it comes to the challenges she has faced in her life.
It is her grit, perseverance and her never quit attitude that secured her win of The Race Across America, which is a 4,800km, trans continental race that takes riders from the west coast to the east coast of the United States. Leah’s time of 11 days, 3 hours and 3 minutes means she was averaging over 436km per day, sleeping no more than 3 hours per night, if she slept at all.
Since she was young, she has been a fighter, figuratively and literally. At the age of 17 she won the Bantamweight World Kickboxing Championship and was the Duathlon champion in Israel. She still uses her martial arts to warm as part of her training.
Leah Immigrated back to Israel to join the Israeli Defense Force where she became a Krav Maga specialist and the first female elite commando trainer. There, she discovered cycling which developed into her goal of becoming a pro cyclist and the desire to eventually ride in the 2004 Olympic Games. The universe had other plans when a crash altered her trajectory which eventually led to her discovery of ultra distance cycling.
Leah’s commitment to finishing what she started spans not only her athletic endeavors, but also her life. She shares a ton of wisdom in this conversation about discipline, chasing your dreams and paying attention to unique opportunities. We talk about the importance of pushing our limits and doing hard things, setting goals and seeing them through, as well as other tangents and topics along the way.
I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and hope you do as well.
Enjoy
